Page:Archaeologia volume 38 part 2.djvu/83

Rh there regarded as a pirate, and detained—a mistake arising from the circumstance of one of the vessels belonging to a noted pirate, David Wodt, of Hamburg. However, after a strict examination at Bergen, in which Bothwell's rank and marriage with Queen Mary were disclosed, the magistrate of that place, Erik Rosenkrantz, decided upon not dismissing Bothwell, but sending him, with a report of the examination, to Denmark, that the king, Frederik the Second, might deal with him according to his pleasure.

"Bothwell arrived in Denmark about the close of the year 1567, and was at first lodged in the Palace at Copenhagen, where, although regarded as a prisoner, he was treated honourably and as a person of high rank; the king even sending him valuable presents and advancing him money. Bothwell now lost no time in representing to the king in a memorial that he was sent by Queen Mary, his consort, to demand Frederik's aid and assistance against her rebellious subjects; that, in return, he was authorised by her to restore to the King of Denmark the isles of Orkney and Shetland (which had been pledged to the crown of Scotland in lieu of a pecuniary dowry that should have been paid at a former period on the marriage of a Danish princess with a Scottish king); and that, as soon as the object of his mission to Denmark was accomplished, he wished immediately to proceed to France, being charged with a similar mission to the French Court. But, just about this time, envoys from the Regent Murray arrived at Copenhagen, accusing Bothwell of parricide (i.e. the murder of Darnley) and other heinous crimes, and demanding that he should be delivered up to them to be taken back to Scotland, there to suffer death, or that he should be capitally punished in Denmark. The regent, moreover, strengthened his demand by representing himself as the bulwark of the Protestant cause in Scotland, and that Denmark ought to make common cause with England and Scotland against the Catholic powers, Spain and France, which aimed at the total extermination of Protestantism.

"Frederik, thus acted upon by powerful motives on both sides, resolved to do nothing hastily, but, in the first place, to remove Bothwell from Copenhagen to the Castle of Malmö, in Sweden, which at that time belonged to Denmark; and there he was detained from the beginning of the year 1568 till the year 1573. At Malmö Bothwell was still honourably treated, and, although great care was taken that he should not escape, much liberty was granted him, and free intercourse with such of his countrymen as chose to visit him. In the meanwhile the successive Scottish regents were indefatigable in sending envoys to Denmark claiming Bothwell at the hands of Frederik, whose claims even Queen Elizabeth supported in several energetic letters to the Danish king. On the other hand,