Free Ancient and Medieval Traitors - Back-stabbers, turncoats and conspirators (True Crime) by Gordon Kerr Page A

her cousin because Walsingham had shown her to be a traitor, and on the other she knew that it would not be a wise decision to murder a royal. After increasing pressure from Walsingham to put Mary to death, Elizabeth finally caved in. However, Walsingham’s position as adviser was permanently compromised from this point onwards and he was no longer held in high regard by the queen.
    After a lifetime of service to the sovereign he completely lost his political standing and was left with grave financial debts. He died alone and miserable in 1590 and was heavily in debt to the queen.

Sir Anthony Babington and Gilbert Gifford
     
     
     
     
    As with many of the medieval traitors mentioned previously, the clash between Catholic and Protestant was the reason behind a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I. Sir Anthony Babington was one such traitor and as a result of his strong Roman Catholic convictions, he sought to take the life of the Protestant queen.
    Born in 1561, Babington was brought up within a stable household. Due to the general religious unrest in England from the different rulers, Babington was secretly raised as a Roman Catholic. From an early age he served as a page to the young Mary Queen of Scots and was something of an admirer of the queen’s talents and religious devotion. Babington did not begin to rally himself against Queen Elizabeth until 1580, when he moved to London and joined a secret society in support of Jesuit missionaries.
    Like Babington, Gilbert Gifford was also brought up in a Catholic family and intended to devote his life to the Catholic church by entering Cardinal Allen’s English college at Douai in 1577, with the hope of becoming a missionary priest. The following years were filled with many different relocations abroad as Gifford failed to decide what he wanted to do. In 1582 he returned to Cardinal Allen’s college which was now based in Rheims, and was ordained as a deacon in 1585. Gifford’s allegiances soon became more sinister when, shortly afterwards, he made the acquaintance of a student named John Savage who was involved in a plot to assassinate the Queen of England. In 1585 he left Rheims again and met one of Mary’s agents, Thomas Morgan. He then quickly became involved in the Babington plot, which sought to kill the Elizabeth I.

    T HE  B ABINGTON  P LOT

    As he had in his youth, Babington was able to provide more assistance for Mary Queen of Scots when he arrived in Paris and became associated with her supporters. She was grateful to him for delivering various letters to her and he became an even greater supporter of the Scottish queen. In April 1586 he began to hatch a plan with John Ballard. They aimed to murder Elizabeth I and her ministers, to organise a general Roman Catholic uprising in England to liberate Mary and install her on the throne of England.
    The plot proved potentially to be one of the most serious threats to the monarchy in a long time as more and more influential supporters were choosing to support Mary Queen of Scots. One of the most powerful supporters of the plot was King Philip II of Spain, a Catholic ruler who believed that Elizabeth should be killed in order for Catholicism to be reintroduced into England. Babington’s plot was soon discovered, no matter how intricate he had made it. Later in the year of 1586 Babington wrote a letter to Mary Queen of Scots, outlining the details of the plot and requesting a token of her appreciation in return. This letter was intercepted by Walsingham’s advanced spy network, but it was a while before his forces were able to catch up with the elusive Babington.
    Prior to this, Gilbert Gifford had also become involved with the plot and had been made responsible for transporting the messages between Mary and Babington. He was soon arrested by Sir Francis Walsingham and brought to London for questioning. Babington’s plot struck another blow here, as Gifford agreed to preserve his life by acting as a double