The Throckmorton and Babington plots

• The Throckmorton plot of 1583 was where The French Duke of Guise, a cousin of Mary, Queen of Scots, plotted to invade England and overthrow Elizabeth, free Mary and make England Catholic again
• Philip II offered to help pay for the revolt and the pope approved of the conspiracy. Francis Throckmorton, a young Englishman, would pass letters between the plotters and Mary, Queen of Scots.
• Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth’s Secretary of State, discovered the plot in May 1583. In November 1583, Walsingham’s spies found papers at Throckmorton’s house that revealed his part in the conspiracy.
• Throckmorton was arrested and tortured. He confessed to his involvement and was executed in May 1584
• The Throckmorton plot showed Elizabeth that she must prevent European Catholic powers from uniting against her
• After the Throckmorton plot, many Catholics fled England. Around 11000 were imprisoned or kept under surveillance
• An act of parliament in 1585 made sheltering or preventing Catholic priests from punishment punishable by death
• Throckmorton's papers showed a list of Catholic Sympathisers in England, which confirmed the English governments fear of the 'enemy within'
• The Babington plot was where the Duke of Guise would invade England, murder Elizabeth and put Mary, Queen of Scots, on the throne. Philip II and the pope supported the plot.
• Anthony Babington, a Catholic, wrote to Mary in July 1586 about the Babington Plot
• Sir Francis Walsingham intercepted and read Babington’s letters to Mary, which clearly demonstrated her awareness of, support for and involvement in the conspiracy. Babington and the plotters were sentenced to death and hanged, drawn and quartered.
• In October 1586, Mary was sentenced to death for her part in the plot. Elizabeth delayed, but signed Mary’s death warrant in February 1587. Mary was beheaded shortly afterwards
• The Babington plot declared that Spain and England were virtually at war in 1585
• 31 Catholic priests in England were executed in 1586
• Mary being executed after the Babington plot left no hope of replacing Elizabeth with a catholic heir