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The facts:
The secret treaty did exist much as spelled out in the episode. Here's what Alison Weir says about it in her book Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley:
On 4 April 1558, as the time approached for her marriage to the Dauphin, Mary, probably on the advice of the Guises, signed a secret treaty with Henry II, pledging that, if she died without issue, Scotland would become subject to the French Crown. This amounted to a betrayal of her kingdom and her Scottish heirs, and is proof that she retained little affection for, or pride in, the land of her birth, and that thanks to the influences around her, she had come to regard it as a mere appendage of France.
Since we know about the treaty, clearly the signed document was not destroyed soon after the marriage as the episode would have us believe. It is important to understand what the document meant and what weight it carried. First of all let's consider what would have happened if Mary had had children with Francis. The treaty, of course, would be null and void if any survived Mary. If Mary had only one son, that son would be the heir to the throne of both France and of Scotland. Could the countries have remained separate? Given a contemporary example possibly yes. The Hapsburg Charles V was the King of Austria, the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Spain. It may be fair to say that ruling it all exhausted him as he eventually abdicated to enter a monastery. He gave Austria and the imperial crown to one son and Spain and it's growing world empire to another. If Mary had two sons or more, she as Queen could have willed Scotland to any one of them, keeping Scotland separate or allowing to become part of France as she chose. If she had only daughters, the oldest would have been the heir to the Scottish throne. But because of Salic Law in France (no girls allowed) the daughter would not have been in the line of succession in France and Francis' brothers would have been next in line there.
So really what the treaty was about was an attempt to cut Mary's Scottish relatives out of the mix for the future of Scotland. The treaty didn't mean much unless France intended to back it up by force in Scotland. The treaty might have gained some support from the Pope, which could have eased France's problems outside Britain over the invasion that certainly would have been necessary. It might also divide the loyalties of some of the Scottish lords making the French initial task easier. But it certainly would have caused long term fighting between English and French forces in Scotland.
Mary's father - It went by in the episode fairly quickly so I could possibly have misheard what was said. The impression I got from the episode was that James V, Mary's father, fought the battle at Solway Moss, was wounded there and died not too long after of his wounds. What actually happened was that the English troops raided Scotland. French and Scottish troops shadowed them until they left Scotland at which time the Scottish lords mostly refused to cross into England 'to do the French bidding.' The English and the remainder of the force fought a half-hearted battle at Solway Moss with the French-Scottish troops withdrawing before there was much loss of life on either side. James, uninjured but seeing he did not have absolute control over his countrymen, went home to sulk in bed, where he did die presumably of extreme depression, just a week after Mary was born.
The secret treaty did exist much as spelled out in the episode. Here's what Alison Weir says about it in her book Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley:
On 4 April 1558, as the time approached for her marriage to the Dauphin, Mary, probably on the advice of the Guises, signed a secret treaty with Henry II, pledging that, if she died without issue, Scotland would become subject to the French Crown. This amounted to a betrayal of her kingdom and her Scottish heirs, and is proof that she retained little affection for, or pride in, the land of her birth, and that thanks to the influences around her, she had come to regard it as a mere appendage of France.
Since we know about the treaty, clearly the signed document was not destroyed soon after the marriage as the episode would have us believe. It is important to understand what the document meant and what weight it carried. First of all let's consider what would have happened if Mary had had children with Francis. The treaty, of course, would be null and void if any survived Mary. If Mary had only one son, that son would be the heir to the throne of both France and of Scotland. Could the countries have remained separate? Given a contemporary example possibly yes. The Hapsburg Charles V was the King of Austria, the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Spain. It may be fair to say that ruling it all exhausted him as he eventually abdicated to enter a monastery. He gave Austria and the imperial crown to one son and Spain and it's growing world empire to another. If Mary had two sons or more, she as Queen could have willed Scotland to any one of them, keeping Scotland separate or allowing to become part of France as she chose. If she had only daughters, the oldest would have been the heir to the Scottish throne. But because of Salic Law in France (no girls allowed) the daughter would not have been in the line of succession in France and Francis' brothers would have been next in line there.
So really what the treaty was about was an attempt to cut Mary's Scottish relatives out of the mix for the future of Scotland. The treaty didn't mean much unless France intended to back it up by force in Scotland. The treaty might have gained some support from the Pope, which could have eased France's problems outside Britain over the invasion that certainly would have been necessary. It might also divide the loyalties of some of the Scottish lords making the French initial task easier. But it certainly would have caused long term fighting between English and French forces in Scotland.
Mary's father - It went by in the episode fairly quickly so I could possibly have misheard what was said. The impression I got from the episode was that James V, Mary's father, fought the battle at Solway Moss, was wounded there and died not too long after of his wounds. What actually happened was that the English troops raided Scotland. French and Scottish troops shadowed them until they left Scotland at which time the Scottish lords mostly refused to cross into England 'to do the French bidding.' The English and the remainder of the force fought a half-hearted battle at Solway Moss with the French-Scottish troops withdrawing before there was much loss of life on either side. James, uninjured but seeing he did not have absolute control over his countrymen, went home to sulk in bed, where he did die presumably of extreme depression, just a week after Mary was born.
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