Bastian Pagez
Encyclopedia
Bastian Pagez was a French servant and musician at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. He devised part of the entertainment at the baptism of Prince James at Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...

 in 1566. When Mary was exiled in England, Bastian and his family continued in her service. The 19th-century historian Agnes Strickland
Agnes Strickland
Agnes Strickland was an English historical writer and poet.-Biography:The daughter of Thomas Strickland of Reydon Hall, Suffolk, Agnes was educated by her father, and began her literary career with a poem, Worcester Field, followed by The Seven Ages of Woman and Demetrius...

 considered his court role as equivalent to the English Master of the Revels
Master of the Revels
The Master of the Revels was a position within the English, and later the British, royal household heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels" that originally had responsibilities for overseeing royal festivities, known as revels, and later also became responsible for stage censorship,...

; in England he was Mary's chamber valet and designed her embroidery patterns.

Christening at Stirling

Bastian is first recorded at the Scottish court in 1565 when Mary and Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley bought him an elaborate and expensive suit of clothes costing over £100 Scots as a mark of their favour.
James Melville of Halhill
James Melville of Halhill
Sir James Melville was a Scottish diplomat and memoir writer.Melville was the third son of Sir John Melville, laird of Raith in the county of Fife, who was executed for treason in 1548. One of his brothers was Robert, 1st Baron Melville of Monimail . James Melville in 1549 went to France to become...

 wrote in his Memoirs that Bastian was held responsible for an entertainment in the Great Hall of Stirling Castle which offended the English guests at the baptism of the future James VI. Mary and thirty guests sat at a round table like King Arthur's
Round Table
The Round Table is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his Knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status. The table was first described in 1155 by Wace, who relied on previous depictions of...

 at the head of the hall. The courses of the dinner were brought up the hall on a moving table, with twelve men dresed as satyr
Satyr
In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....

s, with long tails, carrying lighted torches. In their other hand the satyrs carried whips clearing the way in front. When the table reached the stage, the satyrs passed their torches to bystanders. Then, six servers dressed as nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...

s, who had been seated on the moving table, passed the food to the satyrs who brought the dishes up to the round table on the stage. Meanwhile the nymphs and satyrs sang Latin verses specially written by George Buchanan
George Buchanan
George Buchanan may refer to:*George Buchanan , Scottish humanist*Sir George Buchanan , Scottish soldier during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms*Sir George Buchanan , Chief Medical Officer...

 in honour of the food and hosts as the gift of the offering of rustic gods to James and his mother. Parts of the song were given to the satyrs, nereids, faun
Faun
The faun is a rustic forest god or place-spirit of Roman mythology often associated with Greek satyrs and the Greek god Pan.-Origins:...

s, and naiad
Naiad
In Greek mythology, the Naiads or Naiades were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks....

s who alternately addressed the Queen and Prince, and it was concluded by characters representing the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...

. Although the choreography was perfect, when the satyrs first wagged their tails, the Englishmen took it as reference to an old saying that Englishmen had tails.

This story of English tails is first set down in Layamon
Layamon
Layamon or Laghamon (ˈlaɣamon; in American English often modernised as ; ), occasionally written Lawman, was a poet of the early 13th century and author of the Brut, a notable English poem of the 12th century that was the first English language work to discuss the legends of Arthur and the...

's Brut, where Saint Austin
Augustine of Canterbury
Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597...

 cursed the Kentish men of Rochester to have rayfish tails, and afterwards they were called muggles. Polydore Vergil
Polydore Vergil
Polydore Vergil was an Italian historian, otherwise known as PV Castellensis. He is better known as the contemporary historian during the early Tudor dynasty. He was hired by King Henry VIII of England, who wanted to distance himself from his father Henry VII as much as possible, to document...

 had published a more current version of the ancient legend; writing that the curse applied to the descendants of people from Strood
Strood
Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. It lies on the north west bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point, and is part of the Rochester post town....

 who had cut off the tail of Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...

's horse.

Melville criticised the diplomacy of the guests for taking offence, saying they should have pretended not to see the joke. Some of the English guests, including Christopher Hatton
Christopher Hatton
Sir Christopher Hatton was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England.-Early days:...

, sat down behind the high table
Dais
Dais is any raised platform located either in or outside of a room or enclosure, often for dignified occupancy, as at the front of a lecture hall or sanctuary....

 to face away from the spectacle, and the Queen and the English ambassador, the Earl of Bedford
Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford
Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, KG was an English nobleman, soldier and politician and godfather to Sir. Francis Drake.-Early life:...

 had to smooth things over. Melville said that Hatton told him he would have stabbed Bastian for the offence, done because Mary, for once, showed more favour to Englishmen rather than the French.

The supper with courses served by satyrs was on the 19 December 1566, two days after the baptism of the Prince, according to an English journal of the event. The moving table or stage was drawn up the hall four times for four courses, led by the satyrs. Each time its decorative theme was renewed. It broke during the fifth course. Amongst other payments, the royal accounts record that Bastian was given 40 ells of "taffeteis
Taffeta
Taffeta is a crisp, smooth plain woven fabric made from silk or synthetic fibers. The word is Persian in origin, and means "twisted woven." It is considered to be a "high end" fabric, suitable for use in ball gowns, wedding dresses, and in interiors for curtains or wallcovering. There are two...

 of cord" in three colours for seven (or some) "preparatives" for the bastism. "Preparatives" here may mean "harbingers," the role of the satyrs at the feast, but may just mean the preparations in general.

Apart from the baptism ceremony itself, there were fireworks directed by the gunners Charles Bordeaux and James Hector, and a pageant consisting of an assault on a mock castle by wildmen
Wild man
The wild man is a mythical figure that appears in the artwork and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to Silvanus, the Roman god of the woodlands.The defining characteristic of the figure is its "wildness"; from the 12th century...

. The 28 wildmen dressed in goats-skin were fought by fifteen soldiers dressed as landsknecht
Landsknecht
Landsknechte were European, predominantly German mercenary pikemen and supporting foot soldiers from the late 15th to the late 16th century, and achieved the reputation for being the universal mercenary of Early modern Europe.-Etymology:The term is from German, Land "land, country" + Knecht...

s, moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

, and devils, armed with two cannons. However, James's father, Lord Darnley, was estranged from the Queen. He stayed privately in the castle, and the French ambassador Monsieur Le Croc was instructed not to speak to him by Charles IX
Charles IX of France
Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...

. On the day of the baptism Le Croc sent a message to Darnley that if he came to his room, he would exit by the other door.

On the night of the murder of Lord Darnley, it was recorded that Mary left his bedside early to attend a dance for Bastian's marriage. While some contemporary polemicists
Polemic
A polemic is a variety of arguments or controversies made against one opinion, doctrine, or person. Other variations of argument are debate and discussion...

 and previous writers had considered it surprising that she left the Kirk o'Field lodging to attend a servant's wedding, the historian Michael Lynch noted that she left to attend celebrations that were, "not those of an obscure servant but of the architect of the Stirling triumph." As the biographer Antonia Fraser
Antonia Fraser
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, DBE , née Pakenham, is an Anglo-Irish author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction, best known as Antonia Fraser...

 put it, his masque was of special importance to Mary, "in view of the fact that he had designed one for her only six weeks previously."

Bastian's wedding masque

Mary, Queen of Scots attended Bastian's wedding dance on 9 February 1567, the night before the murder of Darnley at the Kirk o'Field lodging. On the 8 February she gave him black satin cloth for his wife's marriage gown. George Buchanan
George Buchanan
George Buchanan may refer to:*George Buchanan , Scottish humanist*Sir George Buchanan , Scottish soldier during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms*Sir George Buchanan , Chief Medical Officer...

, who calls him Sebastian, one of the queen's musicians or singers, says that Mary left the wedding to meet Darnley but returned to Holyroodhouse to join the dance and follow the custom of putting the bride to bed. The confessions of accomplices to the King's murder mention the torchlit procession of the Queen's retinue passing back down Blackfriar's Wynd to the wedding, which has become part of the enduring imagery of the night.

After the Earl of Bothwell
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney , better known by his inherited title as 4th Earl of Bothwell, was hereditary Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He is best known for his association with and subsequent marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, as her third husband...

 was accused of Darnley's murder, on 19 February 1566 a number of the queen's French servants crossed the border to Berwick upon Tweed in England. Only "Sebastian" was named by the Governor of Berwick, William Drury
William Drury
Sir William Drury, Knt., was an English statesman and soldier,He was a son of Sir Robert Drury of Hedgerley in Buckinghamshire, and grandson of another Sir Robert Drury , who was speaker of the House of Commons in 1495. He was a brother of Dru Drury.He was born at Hawstead in Suffolk, and was...

, who noted they were all, except their single Scottish escort, wearing "Ilande wede." An anonymous written accusation of Bothwell had demanded the arrest of Bastian and Joseph Rizzio, the brother of David Rizzio
David Rizzio
Davide Rizzio, sometimes written as Davide Riccio or Davide Rizzo , was an Italian courtier, born close to Turin, a descendant of an ancient and noble family still living in Piedmont, the Riccio Counts de San Paolo et Solbrito, who rose to become the private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots...

. At the trial of Bothwell on 12 April 1567, a letter from Darnley's father,the Earl of Lennox
Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox
Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox was the 4th Earl of Lennox, and leader of the Catholic nobility in Scotland. He was the son of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox. His grandson was James VI of Scotland....

, was submitted, which named Bastian, Joseph, and Charles Bordeaux, the French gunner who directed the fireworks at the baptism, as suspects who should be arrested. Bothwell was acquitted, and nothing was done with Lennox's list.

On the 26 February, Bastian arrived in London with Mary's French financial comptroller, Monsieur Dolu, carrying a letter from Mary to Lord Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...

 which he gave to the Scottish ambassador Robert Melville of Murdocairney. He then went with Dolu to Dieppe in March 1567. The "young French varlet of the Scots queen" arrived in Paris on 4 March, identified by the historian John Hungerford Pollen
John Hungerford Pollen (Jesuit)
John Hungerford Pollen was an English Jesuit, known as a historian of the Protestant Reformation.-Life:He was one of the group of Jesuit historians restoring the reputation of Robert Persons...

 as Bastian. He brought a letter from Mary written in Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...

 for Vincenzo Laureo, Bishop of Mondovì
Roman Catholic Diocese of Mondovì
The Italian Roman Catholic Diocese of Mondovì is a Catholic diocese in the Ecclesiastical Region of Piedmont. Its 192 parishes are divided between the Province of Savona in the region Liguria and the Province of Cuneo in the region Piedmont...

 and nuncio
Nuncio
Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...

 for Scotland. The Bishop found only one new detail in the letter, that one of Darnley's ribs was found to be broken. (The significance to Mary was controversy over his cause of death.) Neither letters carried by Dolu or Bastian survive. Bastian returned to Scotland and was later arrested by the King's party at the Battle of Carberry Hill
Battle of Carberry Hill
The Battle of Carberry Hill took place on the 15th June 1567, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, a few miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. It was part of the ongoing civil war that surrounded Mary, Queen of Scots and the ever changing sides that opposed her and supported her.-The conflict:In May of...

 on 15 June 1567.

Christine or Margaret?

Although it has often been written that Bastian married one of the Queen's ladies, Margaret Carwood
Margaret Carwood
Margaret Carwood was a maid-of-honour at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her wedding was celebrated at the time of the murder of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, the Queen's consort. However, historians have disagreed on who Margaret married.-Background:...

, his wife's name, as recorded in the parish register of Holyroodhouse and Canongate and only a few years later in England, was Christily or Christine Hogg. The parish register entry, which is dated later in the year, records the marriage was celebrated in the Queen's House.
Margaret Carwood was married the day after Darnley's murder. It has been said that Margaret Carwood and Bastian accompanied the Queen when she rode to Dunbar Castle
Dunbar Castle
Dunbar Castle is the remnants of one of the most mighty fortresses in Scotland, situated over the harbour of the town of Dunbar, in East Lothian.-Early history:...

 on 12 March 1566 after the murder of David Rizzio. A 17th-century account of the Queen's escape from Holyroodhouse after that murder says that Arthur Erskine of Blackgrange and William Standen had the Queen and Lord Darnley
Lord Darnley
Lord Darnley is a title associated with a Scottish Lordship of Parliament first created in 1356 and tracing a descent to the Dukedom of Richmond in England. Outside the Peerage of Scotland, another Earldom of Darnley was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1729.The first baron was Sir John...

 as pillion riders
Pillion
A pillion is a mostly British English term for a secondary pad, cushion, or seat behind the main seat or saddle on a horse, motorcycle, bicycle or moped...

 as they rode to Seton Palace
Seton Palace
Seton Palace was situated in East Lothian, a few miles south-east of Edinburgh near the town of Prestonpans. Often regarded as the most desirable Scottish residence of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the palace was erected in the 15th century by George, 4th Lord Seton and was similar in...

. The Captain of the Queen's guard had one of the Queen's ladies behind him, and Sebastian Broune rode alone. From this later story it uncertain if Bastian was the lone rider.

Bastian and his family in England

Bastian followed Mary into exile in England after her defeat at the Battle of Langside
Battle of Langside
The Battle of Langside, fought on 13 May 1568, was one of the more unusual contests in Scottish history, bearing a superficial resemblance to a grand family quarrel, in which a mother fought her brother who was defending the rights of her infant son...

. Bastian and Christine Hogg were listed in Mary's household at Tutbury Castle
Tutbury Castle
Tutbury Castle is a largely ruinous medieval castle at Tutbury, Staffordshire, England, in the ownership of the Duchy of Lancaster. It is a Grade I listed building...

 in October 1569 and at Sheffield on 3 May 1571. Mary wrote to John Lesley
John Lesley
John Lesley was a Scottish Roman Catholic bishop and historian. His father was Gavin Lesley, rector of Kingussie, Badenoch.-Early career:...

, Bishop of Ross
Bishop of Ross
The Bishop of Ross was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Ross, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. The first recorded bishop appears in the late 7th century as a witness to Adomnán of Iona's Cáin Adomnáin. The bishopric was based at the settlement of Rosemarkie until the mid-13th...

, from Sheffield Castle
Sheffield Castle
Sheffield Castle was a castle in Sheffield, England, constructed at the confluence of the River Sheaf and the River Don, possibly on the site of a former Anglo-Saxon long house, and dominating the early town. A motte and bailey castle had been constructed on the site at some time in the century...

 in September saying she had to give up some servants, but Bastian was deemed necessary. Bastian's inventions for her needlework were her first solace after her books, and she had requested that he and his wife join her from Scotland. They served her well and faithfully, but had children and no support, and his friends offered him advancement in France. She hoped the Bishop could get him some French appointment to give him the financial security to stay with her. Although Mary's needlework may seem a hobby, the historian Michael Bath notes one of her needlework emblems on a pillow was cited in the trial of the Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.Norfolk was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was taught as a child by John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Norfolk's patronage...

 in 1571 after the Ridolfi plot
Ridolfi plot
The Ridolfi plot was a plot in 1570 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. The plot was hatched and planned by Roberto di Ridolfi, an international banker who was able to travel between Brussels, Rome and Madrid to gather support without attracting...

 that would have set Mary on the English throne as the culmination of the Northern Rebellion
Rising of the North
The Rising of the North of 1569, also called the Revolt of the Northern Earls or Northern Rebellion, was an unsuccessful attempt by Catholic nobles from Northern England to depose Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots.-Background:When Elizabeth I succeeded her...

. Bastian was later alleged to have been involved in the plot to spring Mary.
In November 1571, the Earl of Shrewsbury
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, 6th Earl of Waterford, 12th Baron Talbot, KG, Earl Marshal was a 16th century English statesman.-Life:...

 discovered that Bastian had tried to send letters in cipher from Mary to the French ambassador. He asked Lord Burghley if he should take any action with Bastian. Regent Morton discovered in 1574 that Christine Hogg's mother in Edinburgh was involved in Mary's secret correspondence via the Earl of Shrewsbury's Scottish schoolmaster, Alexander Hamilton. Again, in 1575, Bastian's involvement in secret correspondence was noted, and in 1580 a cipher was involved in letters to his relation called Roussell. Mary asked for horses in December 1581 for four unarmed riders, including Bastian, to accompany her excursions by coach. The other suggested riders, the secretary Claude Nau
Claude Nau
Claude Nau , full name Claude Nau de la Boisseliere, was a confidential secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots in England from 1575 to 1586....

, Curll, and Melville had also been mentioned with Bastian regarding her secret letters. In November 1584, Bastian travelled as far as Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

, accompanying Claude Nau who was going to London to have a meeting with Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

 and with the Scottish ambassador, the Master of Gray
Patrick Gray, 6th Lord Gray
Patrick Gray, 6th Lord Gray , known most of his life as Patrick, Master of Gray, was a Scottish nobleman and politician during the reigns of James VI of Scotland and Mary, Queen of Scots.-Early life:...

. On the way they visited the annual horse-fair at Lenton
Lenton, Nottingham
Lenton is an area of the City of Nottingham in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. Politically, it falls within the Nottingham South constituency. Most of the area lies within the electoral ward of "Dunkirk and Lenton", however the "Lenton Triangle" area, considered by most residents to be part...

, where their apparent liberty raised eyebrows.

Children of the captivity

By August 1587, Bastian and Christine had two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, sons David and Jacques, and five younger children whose names were not recorded. David, the eldest son, left the Queen's household, which was called her family, in May 1571. One child was born at Wingfield Manor
Wingfield Manor
Wingfield Manor is a deserted and ruined manor house some 4 miles from the town of Alfreton in the English county of Derbyshire...

 in November 1569 at the time of the Northern rebellion. Later, the Earl of Shrewsbury wrote that Mary Queen of Scots had planned to escape after the birth, dressed as Christine's mid-wife. The mid-wife's part would have been played by Anne Somerset, Countess of Northumberland
Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland
Blessed Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland, 1st Baron Percy, KG , led the Rising of the North and was executed for treason. He was later beatified by the Catholic Church.-Early life:...

 because they were "something like in personage." The Northumberlands were staying at nearby Wentworth House
Wentworth, South Yorkshire
Wentworth is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 1,223.- History :...

. The Elizabethan writer William Camden
William Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...

 attributed an escape plan from Wingfield at this time to Leonard Dacre
Leonard Dacre
Leonard Dacre was an English nobleman, one of the promoters of the Northern Rebellion against Queen Elizabeth.-Life:He was the second son of William Dacre, 3rd Baron Dacre of Gilsland and brother of Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre....

.

When Mary Queen of Scots was to be moved to Tutbury Castle
Tutbury Castle
Tutbury Castle is a largely ruinous medieval castle at Tutbury, Staffordshire, England, in the ownership of the Duchy of Lancaster. It is a Grade I listed building...

 in November 1584, it was suggested the children in the household should be sent away. Ralph Sadler
Ralph Sadler
Sir Ralph Sadler, PC, Knight banneret was an English statesman of the 16th century, and served as a Secretary of State for King Henry VIII.-Background:...

 wrote to Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...

 asking that the families should not be split up, as Christily was a necessary person who the captive Queen could not spare. It was planned that Christine and her daughters Mary and Elizabeth, would be removed from the household in January 1586, and Bastian was likely to be removed, because although he was thought useful to the Queen, he would not stay without his family. However, Bastian and his family remained with Mary at Chartley
Chartley Castle
Chartley Castle lies in ruins to the north of the village of Stowe-by-Chartley in Staffordshire, between Stafford and Uttoxeter . It is a Grade II* listed building...

, probably because Christine was pregnant, and she had her child at Eastertime. The Queen's jailor, Amias Paulet
Amias Paulet
Sir Amias Paulet was an English diplomat, Governor of Jersey, and the gaoler for a period of Mary, Queen of Scots.-Life:...

, wrote to Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...

 about the caution he would use employing midwives.

Bastian and the Babington plot

A letter of the conspirator Charles Paget
Charles Paget (conspirator)
Charles Paget was a Roman Catholic conspirator, involved in the Babington plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England.He was also a double agent working for Sir Francis Walsingham....

 who was part of the Babington Plot
Babington Plot
The Babington Plot was a Catholic plot in 1586 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, a Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, on the English throne. It led to the execution of Mary. The long-term goal was an invasion by the Spanish forces of King Philip II and the Catholic league in...

 to free (or incriminate) Mary, gives an insight to Bastian's status, showing he was an intimate of the queen but not an essential member of her secretariat. Paget wrote to Mary on 4 January 1586 that he would try to introduce a Catholic priest into the house, under the name of Master Alisson. Alisson's innocent letter of introduction would be brought to Bastian or Christine, because if there a problem the secretaries would not be compromised. Paget's letter was intercepted, deciphered, copied, and signed on the back by Burghley, Hundsdon
Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon
Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, of Hunsdon was an English nobleman.He was the son of Mary Boleyn, the sister of Anne Boleyn and also the mistress to King Henry VIII of England...

, Cobham
William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham
William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and a Member of Parliament for Hythe. Although he was viewed by some as a religious radical during the Somerset protectorate, he entertained Elizabeth at Cobham Hall in 1559, signalling his acceptance of the moderate regime.His...

, Shrewsbury and Walsingham.
When the English authorities decided to act on the plot on 11 August 1586, Mary was out riding with Bastian, her doctor Dominique Bourgoing and others, and they were surprised by armed soldiers who took them to nearby Tixall
Tixall Gatehouse
Tixall Gatehouse is a 16th-century gatehouse situated at Tixall, near Stafford, Staffordshire and is all that remains of Tixall Hall. It is a Grade I listed building....

. When Mary was returned to Chartley two weeks later, Bastian was offered the keys to Mary's room, but the Queen told him not to accept and had an English officer open her things. She found her papers had been taken away whereupon she said two things could not be taken from her, her English blood and her Catholic religion. Paulet drew up a new list of her servants, and wrote;
If Bastian's wyfe be discharged yt is like that Bastian will desire to go with his wyfe, wherein there were no greate losse because he is cunning in hys kynde, and full of sleightes to corrupt yonge men.

Fotheringhay and France

The Queen was moved to Fotheringay Castle, Bastian's daughter, Mary Pagez appears in the list of Mary's servants at Fotheringay after the Queen's execution in 1587, her parents having been left behind. Paulet thought the dismissed servants left at Chartley were "silly and simple souls" with the exception of Bastian. In a list made of the Queen's possessions and bequests in the keeping of her servants, Mary Pagez's father has in money 300 French crowns, and a "suit of savage attire," which seems to relate to his masque
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...

 productions or the "ilande wede" Drury saw him wearing at Berwick. Mary Pagez had a jewel with a sapphire from the Queen for her father and another with a green enamelled bird, Christine was given a pair of bracelets and a ring. After the funeral of Mary Queen of Scots at Peterborough Cathedral
Peterborough Cathedral
Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, whose statues look down from the...

, the re-united Pagez family were given passports to travel to France.

Further reading

  • Carpenter, Sarah, 'Performing Diplomacies: the 1560s Court Entertainments of Mary Queen of Scots,' in Scottish Historical Review, vol.82, 2, no.214 (October 2003), pp.194-225
  • Lang, Andrew, 'The Household of Mary Queen of Scots in 1573', in Scottish Historical Review, vol.2 no.8 (July 1905), pp.345-355
  • Lynch, Michael, 'Queen Mary's Triumph: the Baptismal Celebrations at Stirling in 1566,' in Scottish Historical Review, vol.69, 1, no.187 (April 1990), pp.1-21.

External links

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