The 1583 Throckmorton Plot was one of a series of attempts by English Roman Catholics to depose Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots, then held under house arrest in England. The alleged objective was to facilitate an invasion of England, assassinate Elizabeth, and put Mary on the English throne.

The plot is named after a key conspirator in England, Francis Throckmorton, cousin of Bess Throckmorton, lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth. Throckmorton was arrested in November 1583 and executed on 10 July 1584.Stephen Alford, The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I (Penguin, 2013), p. 174.

Objectives The plot aimed to free Mary, Queen of Scots, under house arrest in England since 1568, make her queen in place of Elizabeth, and legally restore Roman Catholicism.David Templeman, Mary, Queen of Scots: The Captive Queen in England (Exeter: 2016), p. 191. This would be achieved by a Spanish-backed invasion of England, led by the French Duke of Guise, supported by a simultaneous revolt of English Roman Catholics.John Bossy, Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair (Yale, 1991), p. 29. It was suggested the invasion fleet would anchor at Piel Castle in Cumbria.Alexandre Teulet, Papiers d'État Relatifs à l'Histoire de l'Écosse, 3 (Paris: Plon, Bannatyne Club, 1860), p. 368. Guise would then marry Mary and become king.

It was typical of the amateurish and overly optimistic approach of many such attempts. Throckmorton was placed under surveillance almost as soon as he returned to England, and subsequently arrested and executed. The plot was never put into action.

Events

Francis Throckmorton (1554-1584) came from a prominent English Catholic family, his father John Throckmorton being a senior judge and witness to Queen Mary's will.Mary Jean Stone, History of Mary I, Queen of England (London, 1901), p. 517 While travelling in Europe with his brother Thomas from 1580 to 1583, they visited Paris and met with Catholic exiles Charles Paget and Thomas Morgan.Jade Scott, Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots (London: Michael O'Mara Books, 2024), p. 189.

The Duke of Guise and Mary's supporters discussed ways forward. The Ruthven Raid in Scotland was a setback. Cash to fund the plot and planned invasion ("the enterprise") became available after the death of Antoinette of Bourbon, Duchess of Guise, in January 1583.Stuart Carroll, Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe (Oxford, 2011), pp. 242–248.

After returning to London in 1583, Francis Throckmorton carried messages between Mary, Queen of Scots, Morgan, and Bernardino de Mendoza, Philip II of Spain's ambassador in London. This correspondence was routed through the French embassy in London. Throckmorton also carried some letters written by Mary to the French ambassador Michel de Castelnau. An agent within the French embassy at Salisbury Court near Fleet Street, known as "Henry Fagot", notified Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's Secretary of State.Stephen Alford, The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I (Penguin, 2013), p. 159.

Throckmorton was taken into custody in November, along with incriminating documents, including lists of English Catholic supporters. He was encoding a letter to Mary, Queen of Scots when he was arrested. After a few days, he was taken to the Tower of London.Stephen Alford, The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I (Penguin, 2013), pp. 160-162. Another conspirator and letter carrier, George More, was also arrested and questioned, but released after making a deal with Walsingham.Conyers Read, Mr. Secretary Walsingham and the policy of Queen Elizabeth, vol. 2 (Archon Books, 1967), pp. 388-390

Shortly before his arrest, Throckmorton managed to send a casket of other documents to Mendoza; it has been suggested this was exactly what Walsingham wanted him to do. Throckmorton was a relatively minor player, whose significance was to confirm the extent of Spanish involvement in seeking to overthrow Elizabeth.

Protected by diplomatic immunity, Mendoza was expelled in January 1584. He was the last Spanish ambassador to England during the Elizabethan era.Paul E. J. Hammer, 'Catholic threat and military response', Susan Doran & Norman Jones, The Elizabethan World (Routledge, 2011), p. 633. Throckmorton was tortured with the rack,David Templeman, Mary, Queen of Scots: The Captive Queen in England (Exeter: 2016), p. 192. first on 16 November, to ensure he revealed as much information as possible. On 19 November, he confessed to giving the Spanish ambassador a list of suitable havens and ports on the English coast.Stephen Alford, The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I (Penguin, 2013), pp. 164, 176: John Strype, Annals of the Reformation, vol. 3 part 1 (Oxford, 1824), p. 316.

Throckmorton was put on trial on 21 May 1584 and executed on 10 July.Stephen Alford, The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I (Penguin, 2013), pp. 163-4, 169, 174. His brother Thomas and many others managed to escape; some were imprisoned in the Tower of London, but Francis Throckmorton was the only one executed.

Aftermath Despite the arrest of Throckmorton and other conspirators in London, the French party led by the Duke of Guise were not unduly dismayed. They had heard that young king James VI was in favour of their plans to rescue his mother. However, Philip II now seemed reluctant to contribute to the invasion fund.Stuart Carroll, Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe (Oxford, 2011), p. 250.

Unsurprisingly, Mary denied any knowledge of the plot. She was able to claim that she was not the author of letters coded in cipher by her secretaries. More of these letters were rediscovered and deciphered in 2023, and seem to implicate her. In June 1583, she asked the French ambassador Michel de Castelnau to apologise to Throckmorton for not writing to him in her own hand, and observed the potential for "great danger". A few months later, as the conspiracy unravelled, she offered money from her French dowry income to the Guises to maintain their interest in her cause after the fall of the Gowrie Regime in Scotland.Jade Scott, Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots (London: Michael O'Mara Books, 2024), pp. 26, 203–204: George Lasry, Norbert Biermann, Satoshi Tomokiyo, "Deciphering Mary Stuart’s lost letters from 1578–1584", Cryptologia, 47:2 (February 2023), pp. 176, 178.

Mary was placed under strict confinement at Chartley Hall in Staffordshire. A new and stricter custodian Amias Paulet was appointed in January 1585.Jade Scott, Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots (London: Michael O'Mara Books, 2024), p. 204. Walsingham and Lord Burghley drew up the Bond of Association, obliging all signatories to execute anyone who attempted to usurp the throne or to assassinate the Queen.Alexander Courtney, James VI, Britannic Prince: King of Scots and Elizabeth's Heir, 1566–1603 (Routledge, 2024), p. 81: Edmund Lodge, Illustrations of British History, 2 (London, 1791), pp. 299–300. Mary herself was one of the signatories and it provided the basis for her execution following the 1586 Babington Plot.Jade Scott, Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots (London: Michael O'Mara Books, 2024), p. 220.

A servant of Mary, Queen of Scots, Jérôme Pasquier, was questioned by Thomas Phelippes in September 1586. He confessed to writing a letter in cipher for Mary to send to the French ambassador Castelnau asking him to negotiate a pardon for Francis Throckmorton.William Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 1586-1588, vol. 9 (London, 1915), p. 56 no. 50.

Many participants in the Babington and Gunpowder Plots were related by blood or marriage to Francis Throckmorton, among them Robert Catesby and Francis Tresham. Bess Throckmorton (1565-1647) secretly married Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618).

A ballad celebrating the discovery of the plot compared Elizabeth's escape to the survival of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace.Susan Doran, 'The Queen', 'Catholic threat and military response', Sue Doran & Norman Jones, The Elizabethan World (Routledge, 2011), p. 47.

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