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Person Page 337
Mary ("one of the Four Marys") Fleming
b. 1543, d. after 1584
Person Exhibits
Signature of William Maitland and his wife Mary Fleming
Birth
Mary ("one of the Four Marys") Fleming was born in 1543.
1
1
Parents
| Father | Sir Malcolm ("the Brave") Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming (b. 14 January 1494, d. 10 September 1547) |
| Mother | Janet ("la Belle Écossaise") Stewart, Lady Fleming (b. 17 July 1502, d. 20 February 1562) |
Family life
William the Queen's secretary Maitland, of Lethington, and Mary ("one of the Four Marys") Fleming were married on 6 January 1567 in Stirling. Jamie Reid-Baxter has suggested that the Scots Renaissance comedy Philotus, about a lecherous octogenarian seeking marriage to a teenage girl, may first have been performed during the Maitland-Fleming wedding celebrations in Stirling.
Hunter -
The murder of Rizzio separated the lovers for six months, but Lethington having been restored to favour, renewed his addresses with redoubled ardour, and all arrangements having been made, they were married at Stirling on the 6th of January 1566.
Robertson -
He was married to Mary Fleming on the 6di of January 1566-7, at Stirling, where the Queen kept the last Twelfth Tide she was to see beyond the walls of a prison. — (Cale n da r of State Papers relating to Scothwd, vol il p. S25, vol L pp. aoi, 207, 112, 223, 238; 242. Bishop Keith's History of Scotland, vol il p. 241. Miss Strickland's Lives of the Queens of ScoCbnd, vol iv. pp. 107, 131. Mr. Tytler's History of Scotland, vol v. pp. 495-496.)
However her husband might waver or fell in his loyalty, Mary Fleming— or, as she was often called after her marriage, ' Madame de Lethington,' or ' the Secretaxys wife^ — remained unshaken in her devoUoo to her Bustress.2,3,4,5
Hunter -
The murder of Rizzio separated the lovers for six months, but Lethington having been restored to favour, renewed his addresses with redoubled ardour, and all arrangements having been made, they were married at Stirling on the 6th of January 1566.
Robertson -
He was married to Mary Fleming on the 6di of January 1566-7, at Stirling, where the Queen kept the last Twelfth Tide she was to see beyond the walls of a prison. — (Cale n da r of State Papers relating to Scothwd, vol il p. S25, vol L pp. aoi, 207, 112, 223, 238; 242. Bishop Keith's History of Scotland, vol il p. 241. Miss Strickland's Lives of the Queens of ScoCbnd, vol iv. pp. 107, 131. Mr. Tytler's History of Scotland, vol v. pp. 495-496.)
However her husband might waver or fell in his loyalty, Mary Fleming— or, as she was often called after her marriage, ' Madame de Lethington,' or ' the Secretaxys wife^ — remained unshaken in her devoUoo to her Bustress.2,3,4,5
Children with William the Queen's secretary Maitland, of Lethington, (b. 1525, d. 9 June 1573)
| Son | James Maitland (b. circa 1570) |
| Daughter | Margaret Maitland+ (b. circa 1572, d. before 1613) |
Residence information
Mary ("one of the Four Marys") Fleming was sent, with the other three Marys, to a convent in Poissy to allow the young queen to be more immersed in Franch culture in order to improve her French language skills in Poissy in 1549.6
Titles
Working life
- 7,1,8,9,10,11
- In May 1581 Mary ("one of the Four Marys") Fleming was occupied as lady in waiting tp the queen in her prison in Sheffield. In May 1581, we find the Queen in her prison at Sheffield longing for the society of Mary Fleming. — (Prince Labanoff, Lettres de Marie Stuart, t v. p. 222.)5
Property12,13
Mary ("one of the Four Marys") Fleming possessed was granted by the king and Parliament pacification and reinstatement of property for her and her bairns on 22 May 1584 in Edinburgh.14,5,1516
Death
Mary ("one of the Four Marys") Fleming died after 1584.
Citations
- [S2] Various contributors, Various contributors, "Wikipaedia," database, Commons, Wikipaedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/: accessed ), ., online; 8 November 2023; Janet Stewart, Lady Fleming at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Stewart,_Lady_Fleming
- [S2] Various contributors, Various contributors, "Wikipaedia," database, Commons, Wikipaedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/: accessed ), ., 11 March 2025; William Maitland of Lethington
- [S43] Scotland Court of Exchequer, Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, vol iv, ch 1927, p. 497
- [S5] William Hunter, Biggar and the House of Fleming, p 524
- [S111] Joseph Robertson, Inventaires de la Royne Descosse Douairiere de France, p xlviii-xlx, notes 3 and 1
- [S2] Various contributors, Various contributors, "Wikipaedia," database, Commons, Wikipaedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/: accessed ), ., viewed; 26 April 2025; Mary Beaton at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Beaton
- [S28] Sir James Balfour Paul, The Scots Peerage, vol viii, Fleming Earl of Wigtown pages 519 - 558
- [S51] Raphael Holinshed, Holinshed's Chronicle, Scotland, vol v, p 558, https://archive.org/details/chroniclesofengl05holiuoft/page/558/mode/2up
- [S5] William Hunter, Biggar and the House of Fleming, p 519-20
- [S111] Joseph Robertson, Inventaires de la Royne Descosse Douairiere de France, p xlvi, note 4
- [S111] Joseph Robertson, Inventaires de la Royne Descosse Douairiere de France, p li, note 2
- [S2] Various contributors, Various contributors, "Wikipaedia," database, Commons, Wikipaedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/: accessed ), ., online; 10 November 2023; Mary, Queen of Scots at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Queen_of_Scots
- [S5] William Hunter, Biggar and the House of Fleming, p 533
- [S68] KM Brown and others, Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, 1584/5/40
- [S43] Scotland Court of Exchequer, Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, vol v, ch 674, p 205
- [S113] John Spottiswoode, Liber S. Marie de Dryburgh, p 324
| Context | Ch forebears (#1) Ch forebears (#2) |
| Last Edited | 25 September 2025 |