THE BABINGTON PLOT (1586)

LOCATION: England

PERPETRATORS: Anthony Babington and Mary, Queen of Scots; Sir Francis Walsingham

MOTIVATION: Treason and espionage

BACKGROUND: The beginning of the Protestant Reformation is conventionally dated to the moment in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed a list of criticisms of the Catholic Church to the door of a church in the city of Wittenberg, Saxony.

In England, King Henry VIII split from Rome for political and personal reasons rather than religious ones. He wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon in order to marry his mistress Anne Boleyn, in part because the only child to survive infancy in his first marriage was a daughter, Mary and he wanted a male heir.

During the subsequent marriage to Anne, however, the only surviving child was also a daughter, who was named Elizabeth.

In 1553, Mary ascended to the throne of England after the death of King Edward VI, Henry's only surviving son.

Unlike both Henry and Edward, Mary was a committed Catholic, earning the soubriquet "Bloody Mary" because of the brutal nature of the repression of the Protestant faith.

After Elizabeth gained the throne in 1558, she reversed the anti-protestant legislation introduced during Mary's reign, returning to the Protestant reforms begun by Henry and continued by Edward.

Those who chose to remain Catholic were known as recusants.

A number of conspiracies developed involving both recusants in England and exiles in northern France aimed at overthrowing Elizabeth and replacing her with a Catholic monarch. The most obvious candidate was Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth's cousin.

The plot was named for Anthony Babington because he was one of its main organizers in England. He had met Mary personally on a number of occasions and appears to have become infatuated with her and with the idea of installing her in the English Throne. What Babington and the Catholic friends did not know was that Walsingham's spies had infiltrated it right from the start.

Once it had become clear that Babington was involved, one of the Walsingham's agents, Robert Poley, managed to gain his confidence and become his close companion. As well as having these two spies shadowing the principal players in the plot.

 The breakthrough came on June 28, when Babington wrote to Mary to tell her that a plot was being planned in which Elizabeth was going to be assassinated.

Walsingham did not wait for Babington's reply to reach Mary, considering it too risky to wait any longer when the plot was so far advanced.

Over the course of the next few weeks, all were caught and Mary was arrested along with two of her secretaries.

On February 8, 1587, she was beheaded in the great hall of the castle after Elizabeth had personally signed her death warrant.