The Murder of David Rizzio

The Murder of David Rizzio

On the night of 9th March 1566, Mary Queen of Scots secretary, David Rizzio, was brutally murdered in the queen’s bedchamber, at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
The murder of Rizzio started a sequence of events, allegations and accusations, which would lead to Mary’s 19 years as a prisoner of Elizabeth I ~ and ultimately Mary’s death.

Mary Queen of Scots second husband Darnley, was jealous of the close relationship between Mary and Rizzio.
He may even have believed that the child Mary carried, was Rizzio’s.
Darnley most certainly had a hand in plotting the attack on Rizzio. His aim was to rid himself of Rizzio and frighten Mary, in what was just one of a number of efforts to destabilise her reign.

On the evening of 9th March, a group of men stormed into Mary’s chamber where she was dining with Rizzio, and her ladies.
The men demanded that Mary give Rizzio up, but she refused, and a very pregnant Mary stood between Rizzio and his attackers.
The men threatened her with a pistol, and threw her aside to get to Rizzio.

Rizzio struggled against the assault and desperately fought for his life, but in the end was overpowered.
He was stabbed a total of 56 times, before his body was kicked down a staircase, and stripped of its jewellery.
He was buried the same night, his body interred in an unmarked grave in the grounds of Holyrood Abbey.
A grave found in the Canongate Kirkyard is reputed to be David Rizzio’s final resting place.

Just over a year later, in April 1567, Mary’s husband Darnley would himself be unceremoniously murdered, possibly with Mary’s assistance, in retaliation for his involvement in the assassination of Rizzio.

Mary’s alleged involvement in the murder of her husband, was the crime which led to her seeking safe haven with her cousin Elizabeth.
Whether or not Mary’s involvement could ever be proven, machinations and manipulations behind the scenes meant she became seen as guilty in the eyes of many.
Eventually, it was for her alleged role in the conspiracy, that Mary Queen of Scots was exEcuted in February 1587.

Visitors to the Palace of Holyroodhouse can still visit the chamber in which Rizzio was murdered.
Apparently…to this day, the bloodstain still remains on the wooden floor where he was murdered.
According to Palace staff, these floorboards have been replaced several times over the years.
However, Rizzio’s bloodstains always reappear in the exact same place…….