Ridolfi plot 1571

• Who was involved in the Ridolfi plot in 1571?


  • Robert Ridolfi, a Italian banker and spy for the pope
  • The pope
  • King Philip II of Spain
  • Thomas Howard (the Duke of Norfolk)
• Was Mary QoS involved in the Ridolfi plot?


  not directly but she was included in the plan
• What was the aim of the Ridolfi plot?

  1. Spain would invade with 10,000 troops and with the help of English Catholics
  2. overthrow Elizabeth and replace her with Mary QoS
  3. Mary would marry the Duke of Norfolk (Thomas Howard) and turn England Catholic again
• Was the Ridolfi plot successful?

  No - William Cecil and Sir Francis Walsingham (Elizabeth’s spymaster) found about the plot from the coded letters
• What were the consequences of the Ridolfi plot?


  • Ridolfi hid abroad for the rest of his life
  • Thomas Howard was executed
  • Elizabeth refused to execute Mary as they were cousins and she also believed in the Divine right that God chooses the monarch
• In what year did the Ridolfi plot take place in?

  1571
• why was the Ridolfi plot So significant?

  it was the first plot from since the papal bull
• What did sir Francis walsingham do to increase his surveillance of Catholic across Europe?

  • some of his spies were trained, but many were just ordinary people who were paid to give information to him
  • he would hunt down suspected Catholics spies and would use torture to get information out of them
  • in total 130 Catholic priests and 60 of their supporters were executed during Elizabeth’s reign
• What were the new laws that were passed to protect Elizabeth in 1581?

  Recusants were now fined £20

  Attempting to convert people to Catholicism was now treason