LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Babington Plot
built 230 days ago
The Babington Plot grew out of the seeds of two originally separate plans. The first, a Spanish invasion of England which would depose Elizabeth and raise Mary to the Monarchy, and the second, a plot by English Catholics to assassinate Elizabeth known as the Savage Plot. Both plots ... were formulated in France by two of Elizabeth's staunchest enemies, Paget and Morgan. In 1585 Morgan met with Gilbert Gifford and arranged for him to re-establish the links of communication between Mary and her supporters in France, which had been cut when Walsingham discovered the Throckmorton Plot. Gifford was taken upon his arrival in England and turned into a double agent. The lines of communication were opened between Mary and France, with each letter being intercepted, deciphered, passed to Walsingham, and then sent on its way.
Source:
Mary's fate was sealed when her complicity in what was known as "the Babington Plot" was revealed. An apparent scheme to assassinate Elizabeth, the whole thing was set up and engineered by Elizabeth's own ministers and agents to trick Mary into agreeing, in writing, to treason. She fell for it, giving Elizabeth just the excuse she needed.
Source:
The story of the Babington Plot is dramatised in the novel Conies in the Hay by Jane Lane. (ISBN 0-7551-0835-3). One episode of Elizabeth R is devoted to the Babington Plot, and the Movie Elizabeth: The Golden Age deals substantially with the Plot as well.
Source:
[T]he plot is monitored by spies working for Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's Secretary of State, who intercept the coded letters between Babington and Ballard. Walsingham used two agents provocateurs, Gilbert Gifford and Bernard Maude, to manipulate respectively two men, John Savage and John Ballard, who believed that the killing of a tyrant was lawful.
Source:
[August] Father Henry Ballard is captured and, under torture, betrays his friends involved in the Babington Plot. Sir Thomas Gerard is imprisoned in the Tower for suspected complicity in the Babington Plot after a previous attempt at insurrection established him as a known recusant and insurgent. Charged with treason, he remains in the Tower without trial for approximately 18 months when the charges were eventually dismissed and he was freed.
Source:
Despite the support that Ballard claimed for the plot, Babington remained hesitant; stating to Ballard that he did not believe any invasion could succeed while Elizabeth remained alive. Ballard answered that the plans of John Savage already addressed this difficulty (Pollen 53-54). After discussion with friends and soon to be fellow conspirators, Babington assented to the plot.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Babington Plot