Elizabeth

mary vs elizabeth

option 1. help mary regain her throne:
the problem with this is that doind this will anger scottish nobility and the scottish may use the auld reliance to draw france into invading and converting England

option 2. hand mary over to scottish lords:
Mary was the former wife of francis II, the inprisonment and execution of mary by scottish noblemen with elizabeths permission could provoke francis (king of france) to retaliate and make an alliance with the spanish, who could then try and overthrow elizabeth.

option 3: send Mary abroad:
allowing mary to go back to france could provoke a french plot that aimed at removing elizabeth from the throne and replacing her with mary

option 4. keeping mary in england:
keeping mary in england was the best option for elizabeth, however it carried the risk that catholic plotters may try ro overthrow elizabeth and replace her with mary.

revolt of the northern earls

why did the northern earls revolt

the erals had lost a lot of influence under elizabeth, they dispised the 'new men' such as cecil and dudley

Elizabeth refused to name an heir, marry or have a child . this caused uncertainty which made the monarchs fear civil war

the earls and their followers wanted to make england catholic again, they resented the employment of a protestant bishop in durham

the marriage plan

mary would marry the duke of norfolk, overthrow Elizabeth and become queen herself, mary told the spanish ambassador that she would be queen of endland in less than three months
However dudley told Elizabeth about norfolk, who was then thrown in the tower of london

progress of the revolt

northumberland and westmorland carried on the revolt with their wives support, they invaded durham cathedral and held mass there.
Elizabeth then moved mary to coventry, to stop her from escaping and joining the rebels
the rebels then invaded hartlepool and waited for spanish support, which never arrived.

why it failed

support from the spanish never arrived, lots of northern landowners stayed loyal to elizabeth and a lot of northern earls did not want to lose the riches they gained from henry viii's dissoloution of the monasteries

significance of the plot

  • it shows that mary could not be trusted-and she remained in prison.
  • the pope excommunicated her and provoked future revolts

  • it put the loyalty of englands catholics in doubt, forcing the government to place harsh steps against them


  • elizabeths control over the north of england was strengthened

the different plots

throckmorton plot

the babington plot

the ridolfi plot

  • roberto ridolfi was an italian banker that lived in england and also worked as a spy for the pope


  • ridolfi plotted to kill elizabeth,start a spanish invasion and put mary queen of scots on the throne, who would then marry Norfolk


  • in march 1571, ridolfi travelled to the netherlands to discuss his plan with the pope, philip II and the duke of alba. Ridolfi had a letter,signed by the duke of norfolk who declared himself as a catholic and pledged to lead the rebellion with philip II's support


  • Philip II told the duke of alba to prepare 10,000 troops and ready them to fight


  • sir william cecil discovered the plot and by autumn 1571 was able to prove that it was norfolk, who was then executed in 1572.

  • the throckmorton plot involved the french duke of guise, philip II and a young English catholic called throckmorton to pass letters around.


  • the plan was for the duke of guise to overthrow elizabeth, free mary and make england catholic again


  • philip II offered finacial help and the pope approved of the plot



the reasons the plot failed :

  • sir francis walthingham discovered the plot in may 1583


  • in november 1583 walthingham found papers un throckmortons house which shows his involvement in the plot


  • people involved

  • the duke of guise.


  • a catholic called Anthony Babington.


  • with the support of the pope and philip II



the plan

  • duke of guise will invade england,kill elizabeth and put mary on the throne

the reasons the plot failed

  • Babington wrote letters to mary that were then intercepted by walthingham and showed mary's willingness to partake in the overthrowing of elizabeth


  • babington and the plotters were hung,drawn and quatered


  • mary was sentenced to death reluctantly by Elizabeth.

the threats against elizabeth

luck 🍀

the wind was against the spanish most of the time which drove the spanish into the north sea so they had to go round ireland to get back to spain

Santa cruz (a Spanish admiral) died before the attack.duke of medina sedonia had to be put in charge

spanish weakness 🇪🇸

their tactic of getting close to ships and boarding them was pointless because the English kept their distance

the spanish were not experienced sailors

lack of deep water port in Dunkirk meant the plan was flawed to meet the duke of Parma

english strengths 🇬🇧

had trained gunners were able to fire more cannonballs per hour than the spanish

could break up the crescent using fire ships and keeping Spanish at a distance so they could not board

strong captains knew what they were doing and were very good with tactics