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The Babington Plot was the event which most directly led to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. This was a second major plot against Elizabeth I of England after the Ridolfi plot. It was named after the chief conspirator Anthony Babington (1561–1586), a young Catholic nobleman from Derbyshire.

Mary's imprisonment
Ever since Mary, Queen of the Scots and Roman Catholic claimant to the throne of England, came under the custody of her cousin, Elizabeth I, a year after her abdication from the throne of Scotland in 1567, she became the focus of numerous plots and intrigues to restore England to the Catholic fold. Because of this threat, she was imprisoned for eighteen years through a series of jailers, for the most part by the Earl of Shrewsbury. In 1580 her confinement was transferred to Sir Amias Paulet.

Because of increasing concern surrounding Queen Elizabeth's safety, in 1584 Elizabeth's Privy Council had signed a "Bond of Association", which stated that any one within the line of succession to the throne on whose behalf anyone plotted against the queen, even if the claimant is ignorant of the plot, would be excluded from the line and executed. This was agreed upon by hundreds of Englishmen, who likewise signed the Bond. As if to allay the Queen's suspicions, Mary likewise signed. The following year, Parliament passed the Act of Association, which provided for the execution of anyone who would benefit from the death of the Queen if a plot against her was discovered. Whilst Mary had escaped formal reprimand as she had not actively participated in a plot, now she could be executed if a plot was initiated that would lead to her acceeding the throne of England.

However, in the aftermath of the Throckmorton plot, in January 1586, Mary found herself in the strictest confinement she had experienced in the eighteen years she had been imprisoned by the English. She was confined to Chartley Hall in Staffordshire, placed under strict observation, under the control of Sir Amias Paulet. Paulet was a Puritan, and although Mary had been able to win over her previous jailers, Paulet was able to resist her charms and kept her in extremely strict conditions. Having been instructed to watch the comings and goings of servants and visitors to Mary, he stopped all open correspondence.

Although Elizabeth was reluctant to act against Mary, some within the English government feared her status as a figurehead for English Catholics. Sir Francis Walshingham, Elizabeth I's Secretary of State and spymaster, together with William Cecil, Elizabeth's chief advisor, realised that if she could be implicated in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth, then Mary could be executed and the Catholic threat diminished. As he wrote to the Earl of Leicester: So long as that devilish woman lives neither her Majesty must make account to continue in quiet possession of her crown, nor her faithful servants assure themselves of safety of their lives. Walshingham's opportunity came when in 1585, a Catholic exile named Gilbert Gifford (c. 1561–1590) was arrested in Sussex. While being interrogated, he confessed to having been involved in a Catholic plot against Elizabeth. Walshingham then offered to release Gifford if he was willing work as a double agent, to which Gifford agreed.

The plot
The plot grew out of two originally separate plans. The first involved a Spanish invasion of England with the purpose of deposing Elizabeth and replacing her with Mary; the second was a plot by English Catholics to assassinate Elizabeth. However, both plots were under the guidance of two of Mary's chief agents in Europe, Charles Paget and Thomas Morgan, the latter being Mary's chief cipher clerk for all her French correspondence. King Philip II of Spain and the Spanish ambassador to England Don Bernardino de Mendoza had been trying to regain Spanish influence in English affairs which was at least diminished by the death Mary Tudor in 1558, not the least through various marriage proposals to Elizabeth (including by Philip himself, who was Mary I's husband). As it became evident that Elizabeth was not inclined to accept such proposals, the only alternative would be to depose her and replace her with someone more receptive to their interests, and Mary was the best candidate. Ever since the issuance of the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis by Pope Pius V on February 25, 1570, Philip was always prepared to assist English Catholics who plotted to overthrow the English queen. It was thus with the support of the papacy and Spain that Morgan and Paget sought to find those within England who would be prepared to meet this objective.

Infiltration
In 1585 Morgan met with Gilbert Gifford and enlisted the latter to re-establish a line of correspondence with Mary, which was severed by Walshingham in the wake of the discovery of the Throckmorton plot in 1584. It was when Gifford arrived in England when he was arrested and subsequently enlisted as a double agent. As such, Gifford was assigned the alias "No. 4" and used many others in his espionage work, such as Colerdin, Pietro and Cornelys.

While Walshingham was able to cut off all communication between Mary and her supporters because of the Throckmorton plot, he recognized that she could hardly be guilty in plots of which she was unaware and therefore had not approved. Thus Walshingham, with the help of Gifford, decided to establish a new line of communication, one in which he can carefully scrutinize and yet would not incur any suspicion from Mary and her supporters. For this they arranged for a local beer brewer to facilitate the movement of messages between Mary and her supporters by placing them in a watertight casing that could be placed inside the stopper of the barrel. Gifford then approached Guillaume de l'Aubespine, Baron de Châteauneuf-sur-Cher and the French ambassador to England and described the new correspondence arrangement and requested the first message that should be sent to Mary. (Mary, in turn, was informed by another double agent named Thomas Philips in prison of this arrangement.) All subsequent messages to Mary would be sent via diplomatic packets to de L'Aubespine, who then passed them on to Gifford. Gifford would then pass them on to Walshingham, who would have turned them to Thomas Phelippes, a cipher and language expert in his employ. The cipher used by Mary was a nomenclator cipher, which was broken by trial and error by starting with letter substitutions and using the frequency of common characters until a readable text was found, and then the rest was guessed at by the message context from what was decoded until the entire cipher was understood. Phelippes, or any in Walshingham's spy school who was familiar with the cipher would decode and make a copy of the letter. The letter was then resealed and given back to Gifford, who would then pass it on to the brewer. The brewer would then "smuggle" the letter to Mary. If Mary would try to send a letter to her supporters, it would go through the reverse course. In short order, every message coming to and from Chartley Hall were intercepted and read by Walshingham, who became aware of every plot and machination for and from Mary, which in some ways were encouraged by Gifford and other agents provocateurs. He only had to wait for Mary to incriminate herself in one of her letters.

Enter John Ballard and Anthony Babington
Paget began to consolidate the two plots. At the behest of Mary's French supporters, John Ballard, a Jesuit priest and Catholic agent, went to England on various occasions in 1585 to secure promises of aid from the northern Catholic gentry of the imprisoned Queen who would accept an insurrection against Elizabeth and replace her with Mary. In March of 1586, he met with John Savage, an ex-soldier who was involved in an separate plot against Elizabeth and who had sworn an oath to assassinate the queen. Later that same year, he reported to Charles Paget and Don Bernardino de Mendoza and told them that English Catholics were prepared to mount an insurrection against Elizabeth, provided that they would be assured of foreign support. While it was uncertain whether Ballard's report of the extent of Catholic opposition was accurate, what was certain that he was able to secure assurances that support would be forthcoming. After this he returned to England, where he persuaded a member of the Catholic gentry, Anthony Babington to lead and organize the English Catholics against Elizabeth. Ballard informed Babington about all the plans that had been so far proposed. But Babington's confession made it clear that Ballard had exaggerated the support of the Catholic League: He toulde me he was retorned from Fraunce uppon this occasion. Being with Mendoza at Paris, he was informed that in regarde of the iniuries don by our state unto the greatest Christian princes, by the nourishinge of sedition and divisions in their provinces, by withholding violently the lawful possessions of some, by invasion of the Indies and by piracy, robbing the treasure and the wealthe of others, and sondry intolerable wronges for so great and mighty princes to indure, it was resolved by the Catholique league to seeke redresse and satisfaction, which they had vowed to performe this sommer without farther delay, havinge in readiness suche forces and all warlike preparations as the like was never scene in these partes of Christendome.

The Pope was chiefe disposer, the most Christian kinge and the kinge Catholique with all other princes of the league concurred as instruments for the righting of these wronges, and reformation of religion. The conductors of this enterprise for the French nation, the D. of Guise, or his brother the D. de Main; for the Italian and Hispanishe forces, the P. of Parma ; the whole number about 60,000.

Despite this assurance of foreign support, Babington was hesitant as he thought that no foreign invasion would succceed for as long as Elizabeth remained, to which Ballard answered that the plans of John Savage would take care of that. After a lengthy discussion with friends and soon to be fellow consiprators, Babington consented to join.

Unfortunately for the conspirators, Walshingham was certainly aware of all the aspects of the plot, based on reports by his spies who kept tabs on all the major participants. While he could have shut down the plot and arrested all those involved within reach, he still lacked the crucial piece of evidence that would prove Mary's active participation in the plot.

The fatal correspondence
Despite his assent in his participation in the plot, Babington's conscience was troubled at the prospect of assassinating the English queen. On June 28, encouraged by a letter received from Thomas Morgan, Mary wrote a letter to Babington that assured him of his status as a trusted friend. In reply on July, Babington wrote to Mary about all the details of the plot. He informed Mary about the foreign plans for invasion as well as the planned insurrection by English Catholics:First, assuring of invasion: Sufficient strength in the invader: Ports to arrive at appointed, with a strong party at every place to join with them and warrant their landing. The deliverance of your Majesty. The dispatch of the usurping Competitor. For the effectuating of all which it may please your Excellency to rely upon my service.

Now forasmuch as delay is extreme dangerous, it may please your most excellent Majesty by your wisdom to direct us, and by your princely authority to enable such as may advance the affair; foreseeing that, where is not any of the nobility at liberty assured to your Majesty in this desperate service (except unknown to us) and seeing it is very necessary that some there be to become heads to lead the multitude, ever disposed by nature in this land to follow nobility, considering withal it doth not only make the commons and gentry to follow without contradiction or contention (which is ever found in equality) but also doth add great courage to the leaders. For which necessary regard I recommend some unto your Majesty as fittest in my knowledge for to be your Lieutenants in the West parts, in the North parts, South Wales, North Wales and the Counties of Lancaster, Derby and Stafford: all which countries, by parties already made and fidelities taken in your Majesty's name, I hold as most assured and of most undoubted fidelity.

He also mentioned plans on rescuing Mary from Chartley as well as dispatching Savage to assassinate Elizabeth: Myself with ten gentlemen and a hundred of our followers will undertake the delivery of your royal person from the hands of your enemies.

For the dispatch of the usurper, from the obedience of whom we are by the excommunication of her made free, there be six noble gentlemen, all my private friends, who for the zeal they bear to the Catholic cause and your Majesty's service will undertake that tragical execution.

While it was not necessary for Babington to detail this to Mary, he did so probably because he was seeking rewards for the people involved in the plot, as well as serving his own vanity: It resteth that, according to their infinite good deserts and your Majesty's bounty, their heroical attempt may be honourable rewarded in them, if they escape with life, or in their posterity, and that so much I may be able by your Majesty's authority to assure them.

The letter was received by Mary on July 14 — after being intercepted and deciphered — and on July 17 she replied to Babington in a long letter in which she commended and praised all the aspects of the plot. She also stressed the necessity of foreign aid if the rescue attempt was to succeed: For divers great and important considerations (which were here too long to be deduced) I cannot but greatly praise and commend your common desire to prevent in time the designments of our enemies for the extirpation of our religion out of this realm with the ruin of us all. For I have long ago shown unto the foreign Catholic princes—and experience doth approve it—the longer that they and we delay to put hand on the matter on this side, the greater leisure have our said enemies to prevail and win advantage over the said princes (as they have done against the King of Spain) and in the meantime the Catholics here, remaining exposed to all sorts of persecution and cruelty, do daily diminish in number, forces, means and power. So as, if remedy be not thereunto hastily provided, I fear not a little but they shall become altogether unable for ever to rise again and to receive any aid at all, whensoever it were offered them. For mine own part, I pray you to assure our principal friends that, albeit I had not in this cause any particular interest (that which I may pretend unto being of no consideration unto me in respect of the public good of this state) I shall be always ready and most willing to employ therein my life and all that I have or may ever look for in this world.

The letter was again intercepted and deciphered by Phelippes. But this time, Phelippes, who was also an excellent forger, kept the original and made a forged copy of the letter with a postcript and possibly other alterations or additions that would incriminate Babington and Mary. In the postscript an offer was made by Mary to take an active part in the assassination:I wold be glad to know the names and quelityes of the sixe gentlemen which are to accomplish the dessignement, for that it may be, I shall be able uppon knowledge of the parties to give you some further advise necessarye to be followed therein; and even so do I wish to be made acquainted with the names of all such principal persons [&c.] as also from time to time particularlye how you proceede and as son as you may for the same purpose who bee alredye and how farr every one privye hereunto.

Phelippes then made another copy of the letter and sent it to Walshingham with a small picture of the gallows as a seal. Walshingham had his proof.

Arrests, trials and executions
John Ballard was arrested on August 4, 1586, and presumably under torture he confessed and implicated Babington. Although Babington was able to receive the forged letter with the postcript, he was not able to reply with the names of the conspirators, as he was arrested while seeking a license to travel in order to see King Philip II of Spain, with the purpose of organizing a foreign expedition as well as ensuring his own safety. The identities of the six conspirators were nevertheless discovered, and they were taken prisoner by August 15, 1586.

Mary's two secretaries, Claude de la Boisseliere Nau (d. 1605) and Gilbert Curle (d. 1609), were likewise taken into custody and interrogated.

Robert Debdale