The Murder of David Rizzio
Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh
David Rizzio was Mary, Queen of Scots' Italian secretary and close friend. Her jealous husband Lord Darnley and a group of nobles burst into her supper room at Holyrood, dragged Rizzio away and stabbed him around 56 times.
Read the full story, see it on the map, get directions and find what else is nearby in the free Hidden Britain Atlas map.
- When
- 9 March 1566
- Where
- 55.9530, -3.1720
- Group
- Plots
Visiting
The palace is open to visitors. Mary's rooms are on the tour.

Guy Fawkes: Traitor or Faithful?
This book asks one question and keeps asking it: was Guy Fawkes faithful, or a traitor? Most people think they already know. The answer has been handed down for four hundred years, with a bonfire and a rhyme, and it is rarely examined. From the boy from Stonegate in York to the cellar, the Tower and Westminster Hall, every chapter ends with a ledger of what it adds in his favour and what it adds against him. By the last page you may find that the answer you arrived with is not the one you leave with.
Nearby mysteries
- St Anthony's WellHoly well · Holyrood Park, Edinburgh · under a mile away
- The Edinburgh VaultsHaunted place · South Bridge, Edinburgh · under a mile away
- Kirk o' FieldPlot · Old College, Edinburgh · under a mile away
- The Arthur's Seat CoffinsUnexplained · Edinburgh · under a mile away
- Mary King's CloseHaunted place · Royal Mile, Edinburgh · under a mile away
- The Heart of MidlothianExecution site · Royal Mile, Edinburgh · under a mile away