Elizabeth

• Rebellions and plots to make Mary queen

  • The Northern Rebellion 1569
  • The Ridolfi Plot 1571
  • The Throckmoreton Plot 1583
  • The Babington Plot 1586
• The Northern Rebellion 1569


  1. The plan was for the Duke of Norfolk, a Catholic on the Privy Council, to marry Mary in secret and for them to have a son

  2. There would then be a rebellion in Northern England led by Earl of Westmoreland and the Earl of Northumberland

  3. The rebels hoped to gain foreign support (either France or Spain)

  4. The plan gets found out and Norfolk begs forgiveness

  5. Westmoreland and Northumberland rebel anyway. They have nothing to lose

  6. The rebels say Mass at Durham Cathedral and take Barnard Castle

  7. Elizabeth sends an army of 16000 north to fight the rebels. The rebels flee

  8. 800 are executed. Northumberland and Westmoreland flee abroad
• The Ridolfi Plot 1571


  1. The plan was for Mary to marry Norfolk. 10000 Spanish would then invade and Elizabeth would be overthrown

  2. Norfolk was executed in 1572
• The Throckmoreton Plot 1583


  The plan was for Elizabeth to be assassinated which would be followed by a French invasion
• The Babington Plot 1586


  1. The plan again was to assassinate Elizabeth and to make Mary queen

  2. Mary was executed in 1587
• Mary was executed in 1587 after being under house arrest for 19 years
• The execution was botched and five blows of the axe were needed to sever her head
• Priests in England


  • William Allen set up a seminary in Douai in 1568
  • 279 Douai priests arrived in England. 27 were executed for treason
  • 600 Jesuit priests arrived in England in the 1580s. 133 were executed for treason including Edmund Champion
• Anti-Catholic laws


  • 1571 Treason Act = made it an act of treason to have a copy of the Papal Bull
  • 1581 = recusancy fines increased to £20
  • 1585 = any priest ordained after 1559 could be executed for treason
  • 1593 = Catholics could not travel more than five miles from their house without permission
• The Elizabethan era


  The 16th century in England, a time of adventure, intrigue, personalities, plots and power struggles, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I
• Queen Elizabeth I


  • Ruled England between 1558-1603
  • Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
  • Became queen aged 25 after the death of her brother Edward VI and sister Mary I
  • Main priority was to settle the nation and ensure England's national security
  • Clever politician with a cautious approach, sometimes willing to compromise for the sake of her people
  • Never married, deciding to put the security of England before herself
• The 16th century witnessed more religious change than ever before