Chapter 20
The turmoil that Châteauroux caused in the palace was like a pebble dropped into a lake, creating ripples before quickly subsiding.
The servants generally believed that his rash behavior had displeased the Queen, which was why he was banished from the court. After whispering among themselves for a few days and admonishing each other to be more careful in the future, they stopped mentioning him and moved on to newer topics.
Some conservative monks and elders praised the Queen's timely expulsion of the poet, believing that this young and beautiful Queen of Scots was different from other frivolous young men and women who only knew how to joke and have fun. She recognized the responsibility on her shoulders, understood the importance of maintaining customs and order, and was willing to set an example.
Mary, meanwhile, turned her attention back to John Knox.
To bring this person to ruin and death, the first step is to remove the halo of holiness surrounding him and make the people of Edinburgh realize that he is not a saint.
Mary had unintentionally damaged this relationship in the previous two conflicts, and no matter how carefully John Knox tried to salvage it, the people of Edinburgh no longer trusted him as much as before.
Greed for money and lust for beauty—these “glorious deeds” within the Vatican have amply demonstrated that these are the most common and easily criticized mistakes made by clergy.
Mary carefully recalled her past life, remembering that John Knox had married an eighteen-year-old girl when he was fifty-seven. She decided to start with the latter problem.
But Mary never expected that before she could even begin to frame him, John Knox's second-in-command—a Protestant named John Craig—had already come to surrender.
...
It was a rainy summer night. Mary was having dinner with Maitland and discussing her wedding to Fleming with him when she heard someone announce that John Craig had come to request an audience with the Queen.
Mary thought for two seconds before remembering that this was Knox's student and assistant. She exclaimed in surprise, "What is he doing here? The conflict between me and his teacher is irreparable. Knox calls me a witch every day, and I want to just throw him in jail as soon as possible."
"We inquired about his purpose, but he claimed that he had something very important to explain to Your Majesty in person, otherwise no one would be willing to speak... So Your Majesty, are you going to refuse him and let us just send the priest away?" the reporting guard asked.
Mary picked up a napkin to wipe her mouth, thought for a moment, and then changed her mind.
“Take him to the study; I will receive him there,” Mary said.
John Craig, who arrived in the rain, was wearing a black cloak and was soaked to the bone. He was pale, nervous, and water droplets rolled down his forehead, making it difficult for Mary to tell whether they were sweat or rain.
Seeing how nervous he was, Mary offered him a seat and let Craig sit down and slowly explain his purpose.
Craig didn't back down in his chair. He swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and suddenly knelt down on one knee before Mary.
“I, I pledge my allegiance to you, Your Majesty Queen of Scots, sovereign of all Scottish subjects!” Craig said.
“Interesting… Your teacher is the leader of the Protestants, a man of high status. Tell me, what made you decide to turn away from him and turn to me?” Mary asked.
“Because I don’t want to die, nor do I want to flee to another country, Your Majesty, although I am a Protestant, I am equally loyal to the secular monarch. I already held you in high esteem before you returned home. I never imagined that Knox would be so fanatical, repeatedly offending royal authority and showing no sign of stopping!…” Craig’s heart nearly stopped from pounding with nervousness, but he still managed to finish in one breath: “…You will deal with that villain who offended your dignity sooner or later, and I will certainly not have a good end either, so I can only humbly beg you in advance…beg you to give me a place by your side, for which I am willing to do anything!”
The Queen of Scots enjoys implicit support from France and the Papacy, maintains good relations with Elizabeth I of England, and maintains frequent correspondence. Recently, she has also gained the loyalty of Maitland and some Scottish nobles, and her power is growing stronger day by day.
In contrast, John Knox suffered repeated setbacks and his prestige greatly diminished. Even so, Knox was still unwilling to give up and wanted to continue to cause trouble for the Queen, which was simply walking into hell!
Craig saw things clearly and had to consider his own situation, preparing an escape route in advance.
Mary sat in the ornate high-backed chair behind the desk, toying with a quill pen in her hand, and asked again, "Don't you have the wholehearted love of the people, and therefore have no fear of the king?"
"Popular adoration can be as hard as steel or as soft as foam, depending solely on whether the monarch cherishes his reputation. You currently value your image among the residents of Edinburgh, and are therefore willing to tolerate John Knox's outrageous remarks. But if one day you cannot bear it any longer and order soldiers to storm the church and behead Knox, then even if the residents of Edinburgh swarm in, they will not be able to change your will. And my teacher's wish is even more ridiculous. He wants to spread Protestantism, fine! But he actually wants to establish a theocratic state, then all the nobles, monarchs, and commoners will rise up against him!" Craig said.
"Slap, slap, slap!"
Maitland, standing nearby, couldn't help but clap her hands and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, I thought that those who followed John Knox were all a group of fanatical believers, willing to follow him to heaven or hell without hesitation. I didn't expect that there were some intelligent people among them."
“Lord Maitland, those truly fanatical followers have long since gone to heaven or hell. It is precisely because I am not fanatical enough that I have been able to live peacefully until now,” Craig replied.
Craig successfully persuaded Mary, winning her heart.
If she had a close confidant of Knox secretly helping her, her process of taking down Knox would be much faster.
“Since you say you’re willing to do anything for me, then tell me, are you willing to accuse your teacher of accepting bribes and keeping a mistress? To say that he strictly enforces the rules and regulations of Edinburgh, confiscating their only entertainment and property, while secretly hoarding that property for his own enjoyment? And that he is lustful and indulges his desires, allowing you to secretly bring prostitutes to his mansion through underground passages every night for your unrestrained pleasure?” Mary asked in a deep voice.
Craig realized his chance to shine had come, so he straightened his back and said, "It's all fine, Your Majesty. I'm willing to say that, but none of these are the weapons that can truly defeat Knox. In addition, I'm willing to accuse John Knox of secretly worshipping the devil and holding black masses!"
The Queen is still too young, Craig thought to himself.
Greed and lust are merely stains, not death. Just as accusing a real witch is not the same as accusing a priest of a crime, a black mass is the truly powerful incriminating evidence!
This is the fatal attack that could have left John Knox utterly mutilated!
Mary was so startled by the word "Black Mass" that she dropped her quill on the table, and Maitland was in no better shape.
"Boom—!"
A thunderbolt struck the dark sky outside the window, briefly illuminating the night!
...
On June 29, 1561, the Feast Day of St. Peter and St. Paul, a significant event occurred in Edinburgh.
Their respected and God-blessed Protestant leader, John Knox, was openly accused by his deputy of administering a black mass after his sermon!
This was an unprecedented case that alarmed almost the entire country of Scotland. Nobles and bishops left their fiefdoms, castles, and monasteries to rush to Edinburgh.
In principle, such a case with religious elements should be tried by a religious court. However, John Knox was the highest religious leader in Scotland, and no one could judge him. Therefore, at the Queen's instruction, the case was presided over by the Earl of Maitland, and the Earl of Morley and the Queen also attended the court in person.
When the court session began, John Knox was forcibly led to the dock by several guards.
He held his head high, showing no fear, and instead angrily berated everyone present.
No one escaped John Knox's tirade, including Mary and other nobles, the judges and jurors who dared to try him, and those who still held onto their old Catholic beliefs. In the end, Mary had to order his mouth to be gagged so that the court could proceed normally.
As previously planned, after a brief presentation of the case, witnesses and evidence took turns appearing in court to accuse John Knox of his crimes.
Some of them were male servants in Knox's household, some were beggars from the streets near his mansion, and some were small vendors who regularly delivered various foods to Knox every month.
“My master, Reverend Knox, did not respect God very much in private. He would often hold a cross upside down and mutter to himself. Once, I even saw a Bible written upside down. I was so scared that I trembled. Then Reverend Knox came in and warned me not to say anything.”
“I am a beggar and often go to pray near the church... There are many children on that street, many of whom are beggars like me, without parents and with physical disabilities. Pastor Knox said he would give them bread, and then he took the children into his mansion. At first I was very envious, but soon I found that the children never appeared again. God, how terrible this is!”
"Pastor Knox often ordered some unusual items from me, and then, under the cover of night when no one was looking, I would deliver them to his mansion... I can't remember exactly what they were, but there were all sorts of random minerals, pictures of hell and Satan, and menstrual blood and the like."
...
As the testimonies were recounted, the nobles and residents of Edinburgh who had come to witness the case began to buzz with discussion about whether Reverend Knox was indeed secretly worshipping the devil and holding black masses.
Among these witnesses was the nephew of the old seamstress, Mrs. Anna. He accused John Knox of slandering his lifelong, devout and innocent aunt as a witch because she had inadvertently discovered Knox's secret and, in order to silence her, had been burned at the stake by the priest, ultimately dying from her injuries.
Of course, this nephew was someone Mary secretly found.
Upon hearing the Queen's envoy's instructions, he was almost ecstatic and agreed without hesitation to go to court as a witness.
Each witness's testimony was like a whetstone, sharpening the knife aimed at Knox's head, and the last witness to step forward was one of John Knox's closest confidants—Reverend John Craig, who was also well-known to the residents of Edinburgh.
He not only vividly described how John Knox had been secretly conducting black masses in the basement over the years, but also brought with him a large amount of evidence found in the basement and two children.
A statue of Satan, congealed blood, a Bible written upside down...
When he openly displayed these blasphemous items in the center of the courtroom, the common people screamed in terror, while many nobles rose to their feet, making the sign of the cross and praying to God.
"God, what a sin this is!"
Mary heard Count Alain shake his head and sigh not far away.
The two children, covered in wounds, were in an even more pitiful state. They cried out that they were French, sold into slavery on a ship to Scotland, and then bought by Reverend John Knox, where they were imprisoned in a basement and abused every day.
Knox also told them that on the day of the full moon, he would drain all their blood and sacrifice them to the demon!
The court's trial has reached a point where it can conclude the case.
The crowd erupted in uproar, staring incredulously at the old pastor they had respected so much just six months ago. Then, they turned away from him as if he were a plague, cursing him and blaming him for all their misfortunes, just like the witch trials that had occurred not long ago.
Maitland, sitting on the bench, was so annoyed by the noise that she had to repeatedly bang her gavel to signal for calm before the civilians quieted down.
The Queen ordered the cloth to be removed from Knox's mouth, and the ropes binding him were untied, thus freeing him.
“It’s your turn to defend yourself, Reverend Knox,” Mary said.
John Knox initially struggled desperately, his eyes blazing with fury, but once everything settled down, his face revealed an unusual ashen look.
The old man in the black priest's robe stood up, clutching his usual crucifix tightly in his hand. Then, with a cold laugh, he spat a thick wad of phlegm in the direction of the Queen!
“What else can I say in my defense? You and your lackeys want me dead. You’ve so meticulously prepared this charge against me. No matter what I say, I will not be able to escape punishment.”
"but--"
Knox suddenly spoke in a sharp voice, so loud that even the birds in the trees flapped their wings in fright.
"But—you must know that I am a martyred saint today, like Jesus who was nailed to the cross, bearing the sins of the world. Even in death, I will go to heaven with a clear conscience!"
“And you, Mary Stuart, you will pay for your crimes! Remember, you will die the same way I did!”
"I curse you! You will be falsely accused, dragged to an unjust court, surrounded by heretics, and have your head chopped off in a bloody mess!"
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