Challenging the conventional interpretation of Mary of Guise as the defender of Catholicism whose regime climaxed with the Reformation Rebellion, this book shows that she was, on the contrary, a shrewd and effective politician whose own dynastic interests and those of her daughter took precedence over her personal and religious convictions. Detailed is how Mary of Guise's dynasticism, and political career as a whole, were inextricably associated with those of Mary, Queen of Scots, whose Scottish sovereignty, Catholic claim to the English throne, and betrothal to the Dauphin of France carried with them notions of Franco-British Imperialism.