Catholic Plots Against Elizabeth I & the Spy Network (OCR GCSE History B (Schools History Project)): Revision Note

Summary

Elizabeth's position as an unmarried, childless and Protestant Queen was a dangerous one. This was made even more dangerous because the heir to the throne was Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots. Elizabeth's position as Queen was vulnerable. The Pope and Catholic Spain encouraged plots against Elizabeth. The failure of these plots was largely due to the extensive and ruthless spy network built up by Elizabeth's Secretaries of State.

Catholic links abroad

• Elizabeth's Religious Settlement (opens in a new tab) was not acceptable to many Catholic priests and they moved abroad

  • After Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570, many Catholics began to see Elizabeth as the enemy

  • English Catholics were told that Elizabeth was not their rightful Queen and that:

    • They should ignore her laws

    • They should work to overthrow her

• From the mid-1570s, Catholic priests began to return in secret to England from mainland Europe

  • Some, known as seminary priests, went to help English Catholics by holding mass and hearing confessions

  • Others, known as Jesuit priests, went to convert people to the Catholic faith

• The arrival of these priests was seen as a threat by Elizabeth and her ministers

How did Elizabeth deal with Catholic threats against the throne?

• Catholic priests were seen as a serious threat by Elizabeth because:

  • Elizabeth was unmarried and childless

  • The next in line to inherit the English Throne was the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots

    • All it would take for England to become a Catholic country again was Elizabeth's death

• Catholic priests were ruthlessly hunted down, tortured and executed when captured

  • Wealthy Catholics built secret 'priest holes' in their homes where people could hide for days

    • In 1585, Elizabeth passed the Act against Priests, which made aiding or sheltering a Catholic priest an offence punishable by death

Catholic plots against Elizabeth

• These harsh punishments did not stop several Catholic plots to murder Elizabeth from being launched

The Ridolfi Plot

• Roberto Ridolfi was an Italian banker who was also one of the pope's spies in England

• He helped hatch and organise a plot against Elizabeth

• Ridolfi communicated with supporters of the plot

  • Phillip II

    • Spain was the richest and most powerful country in the world

    • Phillip wanted to return England to the Catholic religion

  • Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk

    • A Protestant noble, who saw an opportunity to increase his position

  • Mary, Queen of Scots

    • The focus of the plan was to make her queen

What happened in the Ridolfi Plot?

• In March 1571, Ridolfi travelled to the Spanish Netherlands

  • He met with the Pope and Philip II

  • Ridolfi gave them a signed letter from the Duke of Norfolk.

  • The letter stated that Norfolk was a Catholic and would lead a rebellion against Elizabeth with Philip’s support

• The meeting was a success for Ridolfi

  • He secured Philip’s support

  • Philip II agreed to send 10,000 soldiers to England when the Duke of Norfolk required them

• Elizabeth's Secretary of State, Sir William Cecil, uncovered Ridolfi’s plot in the Autumn of 1571

  • Norfolk’s servants betrayed the plan when under interrogation

  • Cecil also had evidence in the form of coded letters in the Duke of Norfolk’s house

  • The Duke of Norfolk was arrested in September 1571

• Ridolfi’s plan was never carried out

  • Cecil foiled the plan before it began

  • Ridolfi was not in England when Cecil discovered the plot

    • He never returned to England, so he did not face the repercussions of his actions

Consequences of the Ridolfi Plot

• In January 1572, the government put the Duke of Norfolk on trial for high treason

  • He was found guilty and executed in June 1572 

• The plot reinforced that Spain was a threat to England

  • Elizabeth pursued a better relationship with France to try to protect England from Spain

• Elizabeth still refused to punish Mary, Queen of Scots

  • Mary had been Elizabeth's prisoner since she had been forced to flee Scotland

  • She remained the heir to the Throne

The Throckmorton Plot

• Francis Throckmorton was a young English Catholic

  • He acted as the messenger between Mary, Queen of Scots and the French and Spanish ambassadors

  • The plot also involved Mary's cousin, the French Duke of Guise

What happened in the Throckmorton Plot?

• The government placed Throckmorton under surveillance in April 1583

  • Throckmorton’s regular visits to Mendoza aroused the government’s suspicions

• In June 1583, Walsingham, Elizabeth's Secretary of State, searched Throckmorton’s house

  • The papers at Throckmorton's house showed communication with multiple Catholic nobles in England

  • Throckmorton had been researching which harbours were suitable for an invasion force to land

• Walsingham arrested Throckmorton in November 1583

  • Throckmorton stated the plot had gone no further than the planning stage

  • He claimed this was because he was waiting for the money promised by Philip II of Spain

Consequences of the Throckmorton Plot

• Throckmorton was charged with treason and executed in May 1584

  • Around 11,000 Catholics were arrested or kept under surveillance in the aftermath of the plot

• Relations with Spain got even worse

  • The Spanish Ambassador was expelled from England

• Mary, Queen of Scots, faced no punishment

  • It was not until she was implicated in the Babington Plot (opens in a new tab) that Elizabeth took any action against Mary

The Elizabethan spy network

• The threat to Elizabeth from Catholics at both home and abroad led to an extensive network of spies being built

• To begin with, this was controlled by Sir William Cecil as Elizabeth's Secretary of State

• It was then taken over and expanded by Sir Francis Walsingham when he became Secretary of State in 1573