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Review Questions
1. What did all the plots against Elizabeth have in common
2. What did the Pope do to Elizabeth in 1570?
3. In what year was the Throckmorton Plot?
4. Who wrote secret letters to Mary Queen of Scots in 1586
5. The punishment for sheltering Catholics was?
Subject: History Week 5
Year: 10—Lesson 7
The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots Mary was executed at Fotheringhay Castle on the 8th February 1587. She was found guilty of plotting against the Queen during the Babington Plot and under the Act of Preservation of the Queen’s Safety (first passed in 1585) she was to be executed. Elizabeth delayed Mary’s execution for weeks. Although the trial had ended and Parliament had “unanimously ratified the commissioners’
verdict” and demanded the execution of Mary on the 19th October. After months of stress, near breakdown and using delay tactic after delay tactic, Elizabeth finally took action on the 1st February 1587, reading and signing Mary’s death warrant. She stated that she wished the execution to take place in the Great Hall of Fotheringhay Castle in a quiet ceremony. The next day, Elizabeth changed her mind, but the warrant had been sealed. On learning that the warrant had been sealed within 24 hours, she had exclaimed ‘what needed that haste?!’ On 3 February a secret meeting of the Privy Council proposed sending it without telling Elizabeth, and they began to make arrangements for the execution. The execution went ahead on the 8th February. Elizabeth was furious and refused to speak to William Cecil for a month. She imprisoned the man who had taken the warrant, William Davison, in the tower of London for 18 months. The execution of Mary removed a vital threat to Elizabeth’s reign but it also gave Phillip II of Spain one more reason to remove Elizabeth from the throne. 1) Why was Mary Queen of Scots executed? 2) Why do you think Elizabeth was indecisive about signing the death warrant? 3) How would the death of Mary help and hinder Elizabeth? 4) Look at the table on the next page and tick or cross each box. Does it suggest a
reason why Mary should (tick) or should not (cross) have been executed. 5) Write a statement after the death of Mary from the following perspectives: A)
Elizabeth B) The Pope C) Phillip II of Spain D) William Cecil
Francis Walsingham and Elizabeth’s Spy Network Francis Walsingham was Elizabeth’s Secretary of State. He was responsible for uncovering plots and keeping Elizabeth safe. He was known as her spymaster. Walsingham had spies and informers in every part of the country. He paid people to spy on their neighbours and provide information about possible threats/plots. By placing spies overseas he could also learn about threats from overseas. In some cases he even used torture to extract confessions although he was careful not to use this against Catholic priests as not to make them into martyrs .
6) Who was Francis Walsingham? 7) Look at the table on the next page. Summarise in 100 words the methods used to prevent plots against Elizabeth. 8) Walsingham is one of England’s unknown heroes’. Write two pieces of evidence for and against this statement.
Mary, by blood, was next in line for the English throne.
Most English Catholics were horrified by the Babington Plot. Not many Scots
wanted Mary back either, even her own son, James VI, now King of
Scotland abandoned her.
Mary’s presence in England could be seen as a main
cause of the Northern Rebellion.
Mary was the natural leader and
figurehead for English Catholics
Spain, despite being a rich
country, was in debt after decades
of was with France. Philip also
had to deal with the threat of Islam in Spain and the
Mediterranean, as well as protecting his empire in the
Netherlands.
The Papal Bull of Excommunication
and arrival of missionary priests
intensified the Catholic threat.
Mary instigated the Babington Plot and
intended the murder of
Elizabeth I.
Francis Walsingham and his spy network
were so good that plots were generally
uncovered at an early stage. None
seriously threatened
Elizabeth’s life.
Henry VIII had excluded the
Stuarts (Mary’s family) from the
succession and the English considered Mary too foreign to
be their Queen.
The murder of William, Prince of
Orange, the Protestant leader
of the rebels in the Netherlands, and
the resulting Spanish successes against the rebels urged England into sending an army to
help the Protestants, while Philip built up his
own
Elizabeth declined to marry and
refused to name a successor, placing
the future of English stability in
danger.
Mary had the support of the Guise family in
France, and from 1571 she also had
the support of Philip II of Spain.
Most English Catholics were
loyal to Elizabeth and disapproved of Mary’s behaviour.
The Northern Rebellion was
never a real threat to Elizabeth. It had
little popular support, and the Papal Bull was
issued too late to encourage Catholics to support the
Northern rebels.
Mary’s French supporters, the
Guises, and Philip of Spain were distracted by
problems in their own territories.
Elizabeth’s advisors and
historians today agree that the
execution of Mary was a political necessity that
Elizabeth could delay, but could
not prevent.
France was plunged into civil war over religion
between 1562 and 1593.
The Privy Council and Parliament
were desperate to rid England of the
threat of Mary.
Links
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hv9f - Podcast on the life of Mary Queen of Scots
Elizabeth and Mary BBC – Video Link
Early life of Mary – Video Link
Information on Walsingham
Please contact your class teacher should you have any questions.
Mr Bennett [email protected]
Ms Baker [email protected]
Ms Watson [email protected]
Mr McGurran [email protected]
Method Details
Intercepting coded letters and messages
The plotters developed more sophisticated methods of communicating, using code and even smuggling letters out in the heels of ladies’ shoes. Elizabeth’s government kept on top if this by placing informers in suspects’ households. Walsingham even employed a man to reseal letters that had been opened, and a leading code-breaker to decipher Mary’s letters.
Employing a network of spies and secret agents
Agents with codenames were based overseas in major towns and cities including France, Italy and Spain. Some were double agents who would take part in plots against Elizabeth while sending information back to Walsingham.
Acts of Parliament Walsingham was influential in Parliament who passed Acts throughout the 1570s and 80s increasing penalties against Catholics. The 1584 Bond of Association pledged that if Elizabeth’s life was threatened, Mary Queen of Scots was to be executed.
Searches and registers Town councils could search foreigners’ houses and the owners of taverns and inns had to report any foreigners staying with them. Customs officials also stopped and questioned travellers from overseas and could search them for papers.
Informers The Lord Lieutenants of each country and the bishops officially reported any threats to the Queen to Walsingham and everyone was encouraged to report suspicions of dangers to the Queen.
Interrogation Captured priests and plotters were tortured on the rack to extract information and were then executed.
Capturing priests and recusants
After the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570, her government believed that she was in danger from Catholic fanatics. From 1574 the Pope started sending priests to England. Walsingham’s spies captured these priests.
