The Throckmorton Plot, 1583

The Throckmorton Plot, 1583

The Throckmorton plot was planned for the French Duke of Guise, the cousin of Mary, Queen of Scots, to invade England, free Mary, overthrow Elizabeth and restore Catholicism in England.

Philip II would provide financial support.

A young Englishman, Francis Throckmorton, was to act as a go-between with Mary.

The pope also knew, and approved, of the plans

Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's Secretary of State from 1573, uncovered the plot.

His agents found incriminating papers at Throckmorton's house.

Throckmorton was arrested in November 1583, tortured, confessed, and was executed in May 1584.

The Throckmorton plot again emphasised the threat of foreign Catholic powers, English Catholics and Mary Queen of Scots.

It also showed the potential threat if the forces of Spain and France were to combine in future.

Throckmorton’s Significance

Throckmorton’s papers included a list of Catholic sympathisers in England, suggesting that the government's fear of English Catholics as ‘the enemy within’ was real.

Life became harder for Catholics and they were treated with great suspicion by the government.

Many important Catholics fled England after the plot, and up to 11,000 were imprisoned or kept under surveillance or house arrest.

Another act of Parliament was passed in 1585 that made helping or sheltering Catholic priests punishable with death.

In 1584, the plot resulted in the creation of the Bond