[MR] Wikipedia: QE I Birthday, and the Ridolfi Plot

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

First, Queen Elizabeth I was born on this day in 1533. Happy birthday,
Queenie!

Second, on this day in 1571 Queen Elizabeth's second cousin, Thomas Howard,
4th Duke of Howard, was arrested for his part in the Ridolfi Plot to invade
England, arrest or kill Elizabeth, and replace her with Mary, Queen of
Scots. Some birthday!

The Ridolfi plot was hatched by Roberto Ridolfi, a Florentine banker who
had high contacts across Europe, including with Howard. With approval from
Pope Pius V, Ridolfi enlisted King Philip II of Spain and his ambassador to
England Don Guerau de Espés, the Duke of Alba who was to attack London from
the Low Countries, Catholic Scottish Bishop John Lesley (the conduit to
Mary), Mary herself and, of course, Howard. Ridolfi had a big mouth, and
touted his plans to various big shots across the continent hoping for more
support. Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, tipped off Elizabeth
about the plot. (Cosimo was trying to kick the Spanish out of Italy at that
time, so he may have put political interests ahead of his religion).

Howard's part in the plot was to wed Mary, Queen of Scots and raise
the Northern counties in rebellion. As Elizabeth's cousin, England's only
Duke, and its richest landowner, Howard would then co-rule a Catholic
England with Mary. Mary was already wed to the rather dodgy James Hepburn,
4th Earl of Bothwell, but the Pope could easily fix that with an annulment.
(Bothwell was by then chained to a pillar in a Danish prison under orders
from King Frederick II). Howard was supposedly a Protestant, but he was
ambitious, and would likely have become a Catholic for the chance to be
king of England.

John Hawkins, one of Elizabeth's favorite privateers (later famous for his
part in defeating the Spanish Armada), had gained the confidence of
Ambassador de Espés. The ambassador leaked information like a sieve.
England's chief spymaster, William Cecil, then began to pick up couriers
and servants, who yielded more details under his gentle persuasion on the
rack. It was only a matter of time before Howard's home was searched and
compromising letters were found revealing Howard's role in the plan. One
letter was conveniently found under a doormat, which suggests it could have
been planted by Cecil to tidy up his case.

Elizabeth was not amused. She had already pardoned Howard for an earlier
plot. He was jugged in the Tower, tried for treason, and topped at Tower
Hill on 2 June 1572. Elizabeth had been somewhat sympathetic to her cousin
Mary, but now put her under much tighter house arrest and never trusted the
Scottish queen again. The Ridolfi plot was a red flag to Elizabeth. Her
previously soft attitude toward recusant Catholics ended, and much harsher
suppression of Catholics and their sympathizers became official policy.

Wikipedia has a very good summary of the Ridolfi plot at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridolfi_plot .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆