The Treaty of Edinburgh began not with a handshake, but with the sound of two cannon shots fired from Edinburgh Castle at seven o'clock in the evening on the 17th of June 1560. This specific auditory signal marked the cessation of hostilities during delicate negotiations, serving as a stark reminder that the peace was fragile and the conflict had been bloody. The siege of Leith had raged for months, pitting French troops and their Scottish allies against an English army supported by Scottish Protestants known as the Lords of the Congregation. Mary of Guise, the Regent of Scotland and mother of Mary Queen of Scots, had fortified the port town of Leith to protect her Catholic rule, but the arrival of English forces under the Treaty of Berwick had shifted the balance of power. The fortifications at Leith, Inchkeith, and Dunbar Castle were eventually dismantled, and the French garrisons were ordered to leave Scottish soil, effectively ending the military phase of the Reformation Crisis. The physical remnants of this conflict were so significant that remains of an artillery fort were discovered in Edinburgh's Pilrig Park in 2006, with two gun emplacements still visible on Leith Links, standing as silent witnesses to a war that reshaped the political landscape of the British Isles.
The Diplomatic Chessboard
The architects of this peace were a collection of powerful figures who navigated a treacherous diplomatic landscape with precision. On the French side, Jean de Monluc, the Bishop of Valence, and Charles de la Rochefoucault, Sieur de Randan, represented King Francis II, who was married to Mary Queen of Scots. They were matched by English commissioners William Cecil and Nicholas Wotton, the Dean of Canterbury and York, who spoke for Queen Elizabeth I. The French delegation was granted the unusual permission to meet and console the bereaved ladies-in-waiting of Mary of Guise's court, a gesture of humanity amidst the political maneuvering. These representatives were authorized to discuss the withdrawal of French troops with the Archbishop of St Andrews, John Bellenden of Auchnoul, and William Maitland, who spoke for the Congregation. The negotiations were not merely about military withdrawal but involved complex discussions on the joint use of English and French heraldry by Mary Queen of Scots, a symbolic attempt to bridge the divide between the two crowns. The treaty was concluded on the 6th of July 1560, just short of a month after the death of Mary of Guise, leaving a power vacuum that the diplomats sought to fill with a new Anglo-Scottish accord.The Heraldry Of A Claim
A central point of contention in the treaty was the use of royal arms and signs, which served as a visual declaration of sovereignty and legitimacy. It was agreed that Mary and Francis II of France should not use the arms and signs of England and Ireland in their heraldry, a clause that struck at the heart of Mary's political ambitions. Mary Queen of Scots viewed herself as the rightful heir to the English throne, a position she desired for herself, and the treaty's explicit declaration of Elizabeth as the monarch of England was a direct affront to her claims. This refusal to acknowledge Elizabeth's supremacy was a primary reason why Mary never ratified the treaty, despite considerable pressure upon her until 1567. The French and English representatives had to navigate the delicate balance of respecting Mary's status as Queen of Scots while simultaneously enforcing the reality of her mother's death and the Protestant ascendancy in Scotland. The treaty terms required Mary and Francis to fulfill the representations made by the nobility and people of Scotland on the 6th of July 1560, effectively binding them to the decisions of the Scottish Parliament and the English Crown.