king henry viii of england tried to get lord arran to agree that mary would marry his son. this led to a series of battles called the "rough wooing". in the end, lord arran turned to the french for help. lord arran and king henry ii of france agreed that france would protect scotland if mary could marry the king's son francis. when she was 15 years old, mary married francis, who was now king francis ii of france. but their marriage was short. francis became very ill and later died from an ear infection that had spread to his brain, leaving mary a widow shortly before her 18th birthday.