The Secret Bond was a document drawn up by Cardinal Beaton and signed at Linlithgow by a number of Scottish peers and lairds on 24 July 1543. They agreed to prevent the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to Prince Edward of England. The document is sometimes called the "Linlithgow Bond". After an agreement was reached with the Governor of Scotland, Regent Arran, Mary moved from Linlithgow Palace to Stirling Castle.
An army gathered around Linlithgow Palace in July 1543
Mary's immediate future was determined during mediation at Kirkliston
David Beaton was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish cardinal prior to the Reformation.
David Beaton
19th-century engraving of Cardinal Beaton
Statue of Cardinal David Beaton, Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Beaton saw himself as a devoted servant of the Crown. These royal arms are from his apartments in St. Andrews Castle, Fife.