In 1568, everything collapsed for Mary, Queen of Scots.

She lost her throne in Scotland after rebellion and political conflict. She was forced out of power, and her position in her own country fell apart. With nowhere safe left, she escaped across the border into England.

That decision changed everything.

Mary was not just a refugee. She also had a serious claim to the English throne. Some people believed she had a better right to it than Elizabeth I.

That made her extremely dangerous in political terms.

If supporters of Mary in England rallied around her, she could become a rival queen and a threat to Elizabeth’s rule.

When she arrived in northern England, she was treated like a political risk.

Richard Lowther was one of the local officials responsible for the border region, where England and Scotland met — a place that was always tense and unstable.

Richard Lowther was my 13th great grandfather.

When Mary Queen of Scots entered England, Lowther’s role was to make sure she did not fall into the hands of rival factions who might use her claim to the throne.  He took her into custody and moved her, under guard, to Carlisle Castle.

After eighteen and a half years in captivity, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth and was beheaded the following year.

Years later, the border would shift again, and the same Lowther family would find itself standing at another turning point in the changing crown of England.