Mary of Guise (; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560) was
Queen of Scots from 1538 to 1542 as the second wife of
King James V. She was the mother of
Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as
Regent of
Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560. A native of
Lorraine, she was a member of the powerful
House of Guise, which played a prominent role in 16th-century French politics. Her main goal was a close alliance between the powerful French Catholic nation and small Scotland, which she wanted to be Catholic and independent of England. She failed and at her death the Protestants took control of Scotland, with her own grandson achieving the
Union of the Crowns a few decades later.