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69-519: The plot is named after the key conspirator, Sir Francis Throckmorton , cousin of Bess Throckmorton , lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth. Throckmorton was arrested in November 1583 and executed on 10 July 1584. The plot aimed to free Mary, Queen of Scots, under house arrest in England since 1568, make her queen in place of Elizabeth, and legally restore Roman Catholicism . This would be achieved by

138-593: A Jesuit priest who hoped to rescue the Scottish queen. Working for Walsingham were double agents Robert Poley and Gilbert Gifford , as well as Thomas Phelippes , a spy agent and cryptanalyst , and the Puritan spy Maliverey Catilyn . The turbulent Catholic deacon Gifford had been in Walsingham's service since the end of 1585 or the beginning of 1586. Gifford obtained a letter of introduction to Queen Mary from

207-463: A Spanish-backed invasion of England, led by the French Duke of Guise , supported by a simultaneous revolt of English Roman Catholics. Guise would then marry Mary and become king. It was typical of the amateurish and overly optimistic approach of many such attempts. Throckmorton was placed under surveillance almost as soon as he returned to England, and subsequently arrested and executed. The plot

276-727: A coach and under heavy guard and placed under the strictest confinement at Chartley Hall in Staffordshire , under the control of Sir Amias Paulet . She was prohibited any correspondence with the outside world. Puritan Paulet was chosen by Queen Elizabeth in part because he abhorred Queen Mary's Catholic faith. Reacting to the growing threat posed by Catholics, urged on by the pope and other Catholic monarchs in Europe, Francis Walsingham , Queen Elizabeth's Secretary of State and spymaster , together with William Cecil , Elizabeth's chief advisor, realised that if Mary could be implicated in

345-428: A confidant and spy for her, Thomas Morgan . Walsingham then placed double agent Gifford and spy decipherer Phelippes inside Chartley Castle , where Queen Mary was imprisoned. Gifford organised the Walsingham plan to place Babington's and Queen Mary's encrypted communications into a beer barrel cork which were then intercepted by Phelippes, decoded and sent to Walsingham. On 7 July 1586, the only Babington letter that

414-700: A house, on Paul's Wharf in London, which served as a meeting-place for the conspirators. Throckmorton carried Mary's letters to the French ambassador Michel de Castelnau, Sieur de Mauvissière and his secretary Claude de Courcelles, who resided at Salisbury Court near Fleet Street . In 2023 coded letters from Mary to Castelnau were discovered in the Bibliothèque nationale de France and deciphered. The letters were probably put into cipher by Mary's secretaries Gilbert Curle , Claude Nau , and Jérôme Pasquier . In

483-456: A hundred of our followers will undertake the delivery of your royal person from the hands of your enemies. For the dispatch of the usurper, from the obedience of whom we are by the excommunication of her made free, there be six noble gentlemen, all my private friends, who for the zeal they bear to the Catholic cause and your Majesty's service will undertake that tragical execution. This letter

552-426: A letter in cipher for Mary to send to the French ambassador Michel de Castelnau asking him to negotiate a pardon for Francis Throckmorton in a prisoner exchange. Sir Francis Throckmorton is featured in the film Elizabeth: The Golden Age , where he is played by Steven Robertson . In the film, he is shown asking for help from his cousin, Elizabeth Throckmorton , one of Queen Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting and later

621-552: A member of the Catholic gentry, Anthony Babington, to lead and organise the English Catholics against Elizabeth. Ballard informed Babington about the plans that had been so far proposed. Babington's later confession made it clear that Ballard was sure of the support of the Catholic League : He told me he was retorned from Fraunce uppon this occasion. Being with Mendoza at Paris, he was informed that in regarde of

690-461: A new line of communication, one which he could carefully control without incurring any suspicion from Mary. Gifford approached the French ambassador to England, Guillaume de l'Aubespine , Baron de Châteauneuf-sur-Cher, and described the new correspondence arrangement that had been designed by Walsingham. Gifford and jailer Paulet had arranged for a local brewer to facilitate the movement of messages between Queen Mary and her supporters by placing them in

759-489: A plot to assassinate Elizabeth, she could be executed and the papist threat diminished. As he wrote to the Earl of Leicester : "So long as that devilish woman lives, neither Her Majesty must make account to continue in quiet possession of her crown, nor her faithful servants assure themselves of safety of their lives." Walsingham used Babington to ensnare Queen Mary by sending his double agent, Gilbert Gifford to Paris to obtain

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828-515: A son, John, who is mentioned in his grandmother Margery's will of 1591. Francis Throckmorton was educated from 1572 at Hart Hall , Oxford and entered the Inner Temple in London as a pupil in 1576. In Oxford he had come under the influence of Catholics , and when Edmund Campion and Robert Persons came to England in 1580 to conduct Jesuit propaganda, Francis was one of the members of

897-554: A watertight box inside a beer barrel. Thomas Phelippes , a cipher and language expert in Walsingham's employ, was then quartered at Chartley Hall to receive the messages, decode them and send them to Walsingham. Gifford submitted a code table (supplied by Walsingham) to Chateauneuf and requested the first message be sent to Mary. All subsequent messages to Mary would be sent via diplomatic packets to Chateauneuf, who then passed them on to Gifford. Gifford would pass them on to Walsingham, who would confide them to Phelippes. The cipher used

966-534: A year after her forced abdication from the throne of Scotland . The issuance of the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis by Pope Pius V on 25 February 1570, granted English Catholics authority to overthrow the English queen. Queen Mary became the focal point of numerous plots and intrigues to restore England to its former religion, Catholicism, and to depose Elizabeth and even to take her life. Rather than rendering

1035-556: Is devoted to the Babington Plot. It is also depicted in the miniseries Elizabeth I (2005) and the films Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) and Mary Queen of Scots (2018). A 45-minute drama entitled The Babington Plot , written by Michael Butt and directed by Sasha Yevtushenko , was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 2 December 2008 as part of the Afternoon Drama . This drama took

1104-488: Is given in the My Story book series, The Queen's Spies (retitled To Kill A Queen 2008) told in diary format by a fictional Elizabethan girl, Kitty. The Babington plot forms the historical background – and provides much of the intrigue – for Holy Spy , the 7th in the historical detective series by Rory Clements, featuring John Shakespeare, an intelligencer for Walsingham and elder brother of

1173-599: Is only referenced twice during the opera, the second such occasion being Mary admitting her own part in it in private to her confessor (a role taken by Lord Talbot in the opera, although not in real life). The story of the Babington Plot is dramatised in the novel Conies in the Hay by Jane Lane ( ISBN   0-7551-0835-3 ), and features prominently in Anthony Burgess 's A Dead Man in Deptford . A fictional account

1242-617: The Babington and Gunpowder Plots were related by blood or marriage to Francis Throckmorton, among them Robert Catesby and Francis Tresham . Bess Throckmorton (1565-1647) secretly married Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618). A ballad celebrating the discovery of the plot compared Elizabeth's escape to the survival of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace. Francis Throckmorton Sir Francis Throckmorton (1554 – 10 July 1584)

1311-556: The Bastille. In 1585 Gifford was arrested returning to England while coming through Rye in Sussex with letters of introduction from Morgan to Queen Mary. Walsingham released Gifford to work as a double agent , in the Babington Plot. Gifford used the alias "No. 4" just as he had used other aliases such as Colerdin, Pietro and Cornelys. Walsingham had Gifford function as a courier in the entrapment plot against Queen Mary. The Babington plot

1380-600: The Catholic cause on the continent, the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots , and the Spanish ambassador Bernardino de Mendoza . The plot intended an invasion of England by a French force under command of the Duke of Guise , or by Spanish and Italian forces sent by Philip II of Spain for the purpose of releasing the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots and restoring the Catholic Church in England and Wales . Throckmorton occupied

1449-695: The Guises to maintain their interest in her cause after the fall of the Gowrie Regime in Scotland. Mary was placed under strict confinement at Chartley Hall in Staffordshire . A new and stricter custodian Amias Paulet was appointed in January 1585. Walsingham and Lord Burghley drew up the Bond of Association , obliging all signatories to execute anyone who attempted to usurp the throne or to assassinate

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1518-614: The I 's Gentlewomen of the Privy Chamber , herself the daughter of John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos , who was Lieutenant of the Tower of London during the reign of Mary I. The year following the betrothal, Anne, who would have been about 11 or 12, went to Ripford in Worcestershire to be brought up by Throckmorton's mother, Margery. The marriage bond is dated July 1571, though no parish register entry survives. The couple had

1587-488: The Lord by his great might, my comfort doth maintaine, In keeping and preserving still, my Prince from Traitors traine. And did preserve her from the harmes, Throgmorton did pretende: Who even at Tyborne for the same, did make a shamefull ende. Pray, pray, etc." In September 1586, Mary, Queen of Scots' servant Jérôme Pasquier was questioned in the Tower of London by Thomas Phelippes . He confessed to writing

1656-406: The P. of Parma; the whole number about 60,000. Despite this assurance of this foreign support, Babington was hesitant, as he thought that no foreign invasion would succeed for as long as Elizabeth remained, to which Ballard answered that the plans of John Savage would take care of that. After a lengthy discussion with friends and soon-to-be fellow conspirators, Babington consented to join and to lead

1725-528: The Queen, but rather showing yourselves willing to maintain her, and her lawful heirs after her, not naming me. Mary was clear in her support for the murder of Elizabeth if that would have led to her liberty and Catholic domination of England. In addition, Queen Mary supported in that letter, and in another one to Ambassador Bernardino de Mendoza, a Spanish invasion of England. The letter was again intercepted and deciphered by Phelippes. But this time, Phelippes, on

1794-477: The Queen. Mary herself was one of the signatories and it provided the basis for her execution following the 1586 Babington Plot . A servant of Mary, Queen of Scots, Jérôme Pasquier , was questioned by Thomas Phelippes in September 1586. He confessed to writing a letter in cipher for Mary to send to the French ambassador Castelnau asking him to negotiate a pardon for Francis Throckmorton. Many participants in

1863-399: The Spanish ambassador a list of suitable havens and ports on the English coast. Throckmorton was put on trial on 21 May 1584 and executed on 10 July. His brother Thomas and many others managed to escape; some were imprisoned in the Tower of London, but Francis Throckmorton was the only one executed. Unsurprisingly, Mary denied any knowledge of the plot. She was able to claim that she was not

1932-440: The Spanish diplomat Don Bernardino de Mendoza , and told them that English Catholics were prepared to mount an insurrection against Elizabeth, provided that they would be assured of foreign support. While it was uncertain whether Ballard's report of the extent of Catholic opposition was accurate, what was certain is that he was able to secure assurances that support would be forthcoming. He then returned to England, where he persuaded

2001-470: The Spanish forces of King Philip II and the Catholic League in France , leading to the restoration of the old religion. The plot was discovered by Elizabeth's spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham and used to entrap Mary for the purpose of removing her as a claimant to the English throne. The chief conspirators were Anthony Babington and John Ballard . Babington, a young recusant , was recruited by Ballard,

2070-683: The Temple who helped them. In 1580, Throckmorton, with his brother Thomas, travelled to the European continent and met leading Catholic malcontents from England in Spain and France. It was in Paris that he met Charles Paget and Thomas Morgan , agents of Mary, Queen of Scots . His brother Thomas settled in Paris permanently in 1582. Following Throckmorton's return to England in 1583, he served as an intermediary for communications between supporters of

2139-430: The author of letters coded in cipher by her secretaries. More of these letters were rediscovered and deciphered in 2023, and seem to implicate her. In June 1583, she asked the French ambassador Michel de Castelnau to apologise to Throckmorton for not writing to him in her own hand, and observed the potential for "great danger". A few months later, as the conspiracy unravelled, she offered money from her French dowry income to

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2208-466: The ciphered texts Throckmorton was given the codename or alias Monsieur de la Tour. Throckmorton and George More carried letters from the embassy to Mary. Throckmorton's activities raised the suspicions of Sir Francis Walsingham , Elizabeth I's spymaster and he was arrested in October or in the first week of November in 1583. A search of his house produced incriminating evidence and Throckmorton

2277-473: The confidence of Morgan, then locked in the Bastille. Morgan previously worked for George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury , an earlier jailer of Queen Mary. Through Shrewsbury, Queen Mary became acquainted with Morgan. Queen Mary sent Morgan to Paris to deliver letters to the French court. While in Paris, Morgan became involved in a previous plot designed by William Parry, which resulted in Morgan's incarceration in

2346-421: The conspiracy. Unfortunately for the conspirators, Walsingham was certainly aware of some of the aspects of the plot, based on reports by his spies, most notably Gilbert Gifford, who kept tabs on all the major participants. While he could have shut down some part of the plot and arrested some of those involved within reach, he still lacked any piece of evidence that would prove Queen Mary's active participation in

2415-458: The crown, and were to be hanged, drawn, and quartered . This first group included Babington, Ballard, Chidiock Tichborne , Thomas Salisbury , Henry Donn , Robert Barnewell and John Savage . A further group of seven men including Edward Habington , Charles Tilney, Edward Jones, John Charnock, John Travers, Jerome Bellamy, and Robert Gage, were tried and convicted shortly afterward. Ballard and Babington were executed on 20 September 1586 along with

2484-414: The direction of Walsingham, kept the original and made a copy, adding a request for the names of the conspirators: I would be glad to know the names and quelityes of the sixe gentlemen which are to accomplish the dessignement, for that it may be, I shall be able uppon knowledge of the parties to give you some further advise necessarye to be followed therein; and even so do I wish to be made acquainted with

2553-399: The double agent in the Babington Plot, and portrays his complicated position through the dramatization of the people involved in the plot. The plot figures prominently in the first chapter of The Code Book , a survey of the history of cryptography written by Simon Singh and published in 1999. Episode four of the 1971 television miniseries Elizabeth R (titled "Horrible Conspiracies")

2622-512: The evidence against her, nor to call witnesses. Portions of Phellipes' letter translations were read at the trial. Mary denied knowing Babington and Ballard, but it was insisted that she had sent a reply to Babington using the same cipher code, entrusting the letter to a servant in a blue coat. Mary was convicted of treason against England. One English Lord voted not guilty. Elizabeth signed her cousin-once-removed's death warrant, and on 8 February 1587, in front of 300 witnesses, Mary, Queen of Scots,

2691-419: The expected aid, Elizabeth imprisoned Mary for nineteen years in the charge of a succession of jailers, principally the Earl of Shrewsbury . In 1584, Elizabeth's Privy Council signed a " Bond of Association " designed by Cecil and Walsingham which stated that anyone within the line of succession to the throne on whose behalf anyone plotted against the Queen, would be excluded from the line and executed. This

2760-832: The foreign Catholic princes, what they have done against the King of Spain, and in the time the Catholics here remaining, exposed to all persecutions and cruelty, do daily diminish in number, forces, means and power. So as, if remedy be not thereunto speedily provided, I fear not a little but they shall become altogether unable for ever to rise again and to receive any aid at all, whensoever it were offered. Then for mine own part, I pray you to assure our principal friends that, albeit I had not in this cause any particular interest in this case... I shall be always ready and most willing to employ therein my life and all that I have, or may ever look for, in this world." Mary, in her response letter, advised

2829-571: The form of a documentary on the first anniversary of the executions, with the story being told from the perspectives of Thomas Salisbury, Robert Poley, Gilbert Gifford and others who, while not conspirators, are in some way connected with the events, all of whom are interviewed by the Presenter (played by Stephen Greif ). The cast also included Samuel Barnett as Thomas Salisbury , Burn Gorman as Robert Poley , Jonathan Taffler as Thomas Phelippes and Inam Mirza as Gilbert Gifford . Episode one of

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2898-674: The iniuries don by our state unto the greatest Christian princes, by the nourishinge of sedition and divisions in their provinces, by withholding violently the lawful possessions of some, by invasion of the Indies and by piracy, robbing the treasure and the wealthe of others, and sondry intolerable wronges for so great and mighty princes to indure, it was resolved by the Catholique league to seeke redresse and satisfaction, which they had vowed to performe this sommer without farther delay, havinge in readiness suche forces and all warlike preparations as

2967-447: The letter against Mary who refused to admit that she was guilty. However, Mary was betrayed by her secretaries Nau and Curle , who confessed under pressure that the letter was mainly truthful. Mary, Queen of Scots, a Roman Catholic, was regarded by Roman Catholics as the legitimate heir to the throne of England. In 1568, she escaped imprisonment by Scottish rebels and sought the aid of her first cousin once removed, Queen Elizabeth I ,

3036-464: The like was never scene in these partes of Christendome ... The Pope was chief disposer, the most Christian king and the king Catholic with all other princes of the league concurred as instruments for the righting of these wronges, and reformation of religion. The conductors of this enterprise for the French nation, the D. of Guise , or his brother the D. de Main ; for the Italian and Hispanishe forces,

3105-585: The more famous Will . The simplified version of the Babington plot is also the subject of the children's or Young Adult novel A Traveller in Time (1939), by Alison Uttley , who grew up near the Babington family home in Derbyshire. A young modern girl finds that she slips back to the time shortly before the Plot is about to be implemented. This was later made into a BBC TV mini-series in 1978, with small changes to

3174-431: The names of all such principall persons ... as also from time to time particularlye how you proceede and as sone as you may for the same purpose who bee alredye and how farr every one privye hereunto. Then, a letter was sent that would destroy Mary's life. Let the great plot commence. Signed Mary John Ballard was arrested on 4 August 1586, and under torture he confessed and implicated Babington. Although Babington

3243-524: The original novel. The Babington Plot is also dramatized in the 2017 Ken Follett novel A Column of Fire , in Jacopo della Quercia's 2015 novel License to Quill , and in SJ Parris 's 2020 novel Execution , the latest of her novels featuring Giordano Bruno as protagonist. The Babington Plot is also dramatized in the 2024 T.S. Milbourne novel "Gilbert Gifford". The novel focuses on Gilbert Gifford,

3312-495: The other men who had been tried with them. Such was the public outcry at the horror of their execution that Elizabeth changed the order for the second group to be allowed to hang until "quite dead" before disembowelling and quartering. In October 1586, Mary was sent to be tried at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire by 46 English lords, bishops and earls. She was not permitted legal counsel, not permitted to review

3381-558: The plot and he feared to commit any mistake which might cost Elizabeth her life. After the Throckmorton Plot , Queen Elizabeth had issued a decree in July 1584, which prevented all communication to and from Mary. However, Walsingham and Cecil realised that that decree also impaired their ability to entrap Mary. They needed evidence for which she could be executed based on their Bond of Association tenets. Thus Walsingham established

3450-433: The plot, and a search of his premises, further incriminated him. His arrest led to the end of the conspiracy and the expulsion of the Spanish ambassador He was convicted of high treason and executed by hanging at Tyburn on 10 July 1584, but on the scaffold he revoked his second confession, calling God to witness that it was drawn from him by the hope of pardon. An execution ballad called The Lamentation of Englande

3519-579: The post of Chief Justice of Chester but was removed in 1579, a year before his death. His paternal grandmother, Hon. Katherine Vaux, daughter of Nicholas Vaux, 1st Baron Vaux of Harrowden , was the paternal aunt of the Protestant queen consort of King Henry VIII , Catherine Parr . In 1567, Throckmorton was betrothed to Anne Sutton, heir to the manors of Sedgely, Himley and Swinford in Staffordshire , and daughter of Sir Edward Sutton, 4th Baron Dudley and Katherine Brydges, who had been one of Queen Mary

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3588-402: The queen. He was resolved in this plot after consulting with three friends: Dr. William Gifford, Christopher Hodgson and Gilbert Gifford. Gilbert Gifford had been arrested by Walsingham and agreed to be a double agent. Gifford was already in Walsingham's employ by the time Savage was going ahead with the plot, according to Conyers Read. Later that same year, Gifford reported to Charles Paget and

3657-480: The wife of Sir Walter Raleigh . Throckmorton's recruitment to act as a courier to Queen Mary and the way he was discovered by Walsingham's agents are depicted in Ken Follett's historical novel A Column of Fire . As depicted in the book, Throckmorton was a minor member of the conspiracy, with the main organiser who recruited him managing to escape undetected. Babington Plot The Babington Plot

3726-470: The would-be rescuers to confront the Puritans and to link her case to the Queen of England as her heir. These pretexts may serve to found and establish among all associations, or considerations general, as done only for your preservation and defence, as well in religions as lands, lives and goods, against the oppressions and attempts of said Puritans, without directly writing, or giving out anything against

3795-465: Was a nomenclator cipher . Phelippes would decode and make a copy of the letter. The letter was then resealed and given back to Gifford, who would pass it on to the brewer. The brewer would then smuggle the letter to Mary. If Mary sent a letter to her supporters, it would go through the reverse process. In short order, every message coming to and from Chartley was intercepted and read by Walsingham. Babington wrote to Mary: Myself with ten gentlemen and

3864-441: Was a conspirator against Queen Elizabeth I of England in the Throckmorton Plot . He was the son of Sir John Throckmorton , Queen Mary's principal legal counsel, who was himself the seventh out of eight sons of Sir George Throckmorton of Coughton Court , and Margery Puttenham, daughter of Robert Puttenham and sister of George Puttenham . He was a nephew of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton , one of Elizabeth's diplomats, who had held

3933-421: Was a plan in 1586 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I , a Protestant , and put Mary, Queen of Scots , her Catholic cousin, on the English throne. It led to Mary's execution, a result of a letter sent by Mary (who had been imprisoned for 19 years since 1568 in England at the behest of Elizabeth) in which she consented to the assassination of Elizabeth. The long-term goal of the plot was the invasion of England by

4002-503: Was a relatively minor player, whose significance was to confirm the extent of Spanish involvement in seeking to overthrow Elizabeth. Protected by diplomatic immunity , Mendoza was expelled in January 1584. He was the last Spanish ambassador to England during the Elizabethan era . Throckmorton was tortured with the rack , first on 16 November, to ensure he revealed as much information as possible. On 19 November, he confessed to giving

4071-479: Was able to receive the letter with the postscript, he was not able to reply with the names of the conspirators, as he was arrested. Others were taken prisoner by 15 August 1586. Mary's two secretaries, Claude Nau and Gilbert Curle , and a clerk Jérôme Pasquier were likewise taken into custody and interrogated. A large chest filled with Mary's papers seized at Chartley was taken to London. The conspirators were sentenced to death for treason and conspiracy against

4140-585: Was agreed upon by hundreds of Englishmen, who likewise signed the Bond. Mary also agreed to sign the Bond. The following year, Parliament passed the Act of Association , which provided for the execution of anyone who would benefit from the death of the Queen if a plot against her was discovered. Because of the bond, Mary could be executed if a plot was initiated by others that could lead to her accession to England's throne. In 1585, Elizabeth ordered Mary to be transferred in

4209-498: Was encoding a letter to Mary, Queen of Scots when he was arrested. After a few days, he was taken to the Tower of London . Another conspirator and letter carrier, George More , was also arrested and questioned, but released after making a deal with Walsingham. Shortly before his arrest, Throckmorton managed to send a casket of other documents to Mendoza; it has been suggested this was exactly what Walsingham wanted him to do. Throckmorton

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4278-459: Was executed by beheading. Mary Stuart (German: Maria Stuart ), a dramatised version of the last days of Mary, Queen of Scots , including the Babington Plot, was written by Friedrich Schiller and performed in Weimar , Germany, in 1800. This in turn formed the basis for Maria Stuarda , an opera by Donizetti , in 1835. Although the Babington Plot occurs before the events of the opera, and

4347-560: Was never put into action. Francis Throckmorton (1554-1584) came from a prominent English Catholic family, his father John Throckmorton being a senior judge and witness to Queen Mary 's will. While travelling in Europe with his brother Thomas from 1580 to 1583, they visited Paris and met with Catholic exiles Charles Paget and Thomas Morgan . After returning to London in 1583, Francis Throckmorton carried messages between Mary, Queen of Scots, Morgan, and Bernardino de Mendoza , Philip II of Spain 's ambassador in London. This correspondence

4416-530: Was published in London later in 1584 which described some details of Throckmorton's crime and execution: "Throgmorton lately did conspire, to overthrowe the State: That Strangers might invade the Realme upon an Evening late: And lande in places where he knewe, the Realme was something weake: The secret of which thing he did, to forraine Princes breake. Pray, pray, etc. ... Even so

4485-403: Was received by Mary on 14 July 1586, who was in a dark mood knowing that her son had betrayed her in favour of Elizabeth, and three days later she replied to Babington in a long letter in which she outlined the components of a successful rescue and the need to assassinate Elizabeth. She also stressed the necessity of foreign aid if the rescue attempt was to succeed: For I have long ago shown unto

4554-484: Was related to several separate plans: At the behest of Mary's French supporters, John Ballard , a Jesuit priest and agent of the Roman Church, went to England on various occasions in 1585 to secure promises of aid from the northern Catholic gentry on behalf of Mary. In March 1586, he met with John Savage , an ex-soldier who was involved in a separate plot against Elizabeth and who had sworn an oath to assassinate

4623-455: Was routed through the French embassy in London. Throckmorton also carried some letters written by Mary to the French ambassador Michel de Castelnau . An agent within the French embassy at Salisbury Court near Fleet Street , known as "Henry Fagot", notified Francis Walsingham , Elizabeth's Secretary of State . Throckmorton was taken into custody in November, along with incriminating documents, including lists of English Catholic supporters. He

4692-541: Was sent to Mary was decoded by Phelippes. Mary responded in code on 17 July 1586 ordering the would-be rescuers to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. The response letter also included deciphered phrases indicating her desire to be rescued: "The affairs being thus prepared" and "I may suddenly be transported out of this place". At the Fotheringay trial in October 1586, Elizabeth's Lord High Treasurer William Cecil – Lord Burghley  – and Walsingham used

4761-490: Was taken to Tower of London . After torture upon the rack , he confessed his involvement in a plot to overthrow the Queen and restore the Catholic Church in England . An invasion led by Henry I, Duke of Guise , would have been coupled with an orchestrated uprising of Catholics within the country. Throckmorton was tried at the Guildhall on 21 May 1584. Throckmorton later retracted his confession, but other sources of

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