StS.SHV. Zk PUBLICATIONS OF THE SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY THIRD SERIES VOL. Ill MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS AND THE BABINGTON PLOT mu V MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS AND THE BABINGTON PLOT Edited, from the original documents in the Public Record Office, the Yelverton MSS., and elsewhere, by JOHN HUNGERFORD POLLEN, S.J. Printed at the University Press by T. and A. Constable Ltd. for the Scottish History Society 1922 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION— § I. The Ban against the Prince of Orange, 1579- 1584. ...... xiii 1. Loyalty to Queen Mary, . xiii 2. Enterprises, Leagues, and Excommunication Rumours, ..... xv 3. The Ban against the Prince of Orange, 25 August 1580, . xix 4. Consequences of the ban, . xx 5. Consequences of the murder, 1584, . xxiii § II. Spies and Dupes, 1584-1585, . xxx 1. Walsingham’s political morality, . xxx 2. Thomas Morgan and Charles Paget, . xxxiii 3. Walsingham’s spies, .... xxxv 4. Dupes, ..... xliii § III. Setting the Death-trap — December 1585- January 1586, .... xlix 1. Gilbert Gifford’s first steps, . xlix 2. Thomas Phelippes, .... liii 3. The death-trap, . Ivi Note on Old and New Style in Dates, Ixiv § IV. John Ballard, 1584-1586, . Ixv 1. The Previous History of Ballard and Tyrrell, Ixvi 2. What is the value of Tyrrell’s evidence ? . Ixxii 3. A pilgrimage to Rome, March 1584- January 1585, .... Ixxiii i MARY STUART AND THE BABINGTON PLOT 4. Ballard’s character, .... Ixxviii 5. Ballard’s first steps in politics, 1585, . Ixxxi 6 Bernard Mawde, . ■ • Ixxxiv § V. Plot and Counter-plot, April 1586, . - Ixxxvii 1. A Congress at Paris,. • Ixxxvii 2. Walsingham’s agents, . • xc 3. Ballard’s plotters, . ■ xciii 4. Gilbert’s plottings, . • • c 5. The plotters disperse, § VI. Babington’s Plot, May-June 1586, . 1. Anthony Babington of Dethwick, . civ 2 Babington and Ballard, . • • cv*i 3. Consultations, . • • C1X 4. John Savage, . • cx 5. Gilbert Gifford and the conspirators, 7 June, cxi 6. Counts in the indictment on the treasons committed on 7 June, . • • cx“ 7. Gilbert and Ballard leave London, . cxvii 8. Babington’s activities, . • • cxx § VII. Mary writes to Babington, 25 June-18 July, . cxxix 1. Why she wrote, . • • cxxix 2. The letter in the post, • • cxxxi 3. Elizabeth’s orders and Gilbert’s solicita- tiftns, cxxxiii 4. Mary’s letter received and answered (? 4 to 6 July), . • • • • cxxxvi 5. Babington’s answer on its way, . • cxxxviii 6. Heading the letter, 10 July, • • cxl 7. Mary decides, 11 July, • • cx^* 8. Writing her answer, 11 July, . • cxlvi § VIII. The Catastrophe, 19 July-15 August, . cl 1. Ballard and Gifford, . • • • cl 2. Gilbert flies, 20 July, . • • clvii CONTENTS vii 3. Poley and Babington, . clx 4. Babington’s last letter to Mary, 19 July- 3 August, . clxv 5. A little comedy, .... clxvii 6. The end of the plot, 3 August-15 August, . clxviii 7. The conspirators disperse, . clxx 8. Gilbert and Mendoza (? 1-11 August), clxxiii § IX. The Coup de Grace, August 1586-February 1587, . clxxviii 1. Walsingham’s task, .... clxxviii 2. The secretaries confess, . clxxxiii 3. Queen Mary’s trial, ... cxciii 4. Mary’s protests of innocence, . cxcv 5. The execution, .... cxcviii § X. Exeunt Omnes, .... cc-ccxii THE BABINGTON PLOT CORRESPONDENCE SECTION I Secret Correspondence of Thomas Barnes, Gilbert Curll, Queen Mary, and Anthony Babington Confession of Thomas Barnes. 17 March 1588, . 3 1. Thomas Barnes to Gilbert Curll. London, 28 April 1586, ...... 5 2. Gilbert Curll to Thomas Barnes. Chartley, 20 May 1586, ... 8 3. Thomas Barnes to Queen Mary. 10 June, ? N.S., 1586, ...... 8 4. Barnaby to Curll. 'Lichfield,’ really London, 6/l6 June 1586, ...... 10 5. Gilbert Curll to Barnaby. Chartley, 19/29 June 1586, 11 5a. Queen Mary to Barnaby. Chartley, 19/29 June 1586, 13 6. Gilbert Curll to Barnaby. Chartley, 25 June/5 July 1586, ...... 14 7. Queen Mary to Anthony Babington. Chartley, 25 June/5 July 1586, . 15 viii MARY STUART AND THE BABINGTON PLOT 8. Gilbert Curll to Barnaby. Chartley, 2/12 July 1586, . 16 9- Barnaby to Gilbert Curll. ? Chartley, 10/20 July 1586, ...... 17 10. Anthony Babington to Queen Mary. ? London, ? 6/16 July 1586, . .18 11. Gilbert Curll to Barnaby. Chartley, 12/22 July 1586, 23 12. Claude Nau to Anthony Babington. Chartley, 13/23 July 1586, ...... 24 13. Gilbert Curll to Barnaby. Chartley, 17/27 July 1586, 25 14. Queen Mary to Anthony Babington. Chartley, 17/27 July 1586, ...... 26 Introduction; § 1. The authentic text, p. 26; § 2. The drafts, p. 27; § 3. The Textus Receptus, p. 29; § 4. Sus- picions, p. 31; § 5. Reasons for acceptance, p. 32; § 6. While praising the enterprise in general, Mary refuses con- sent to the murder clauses, p. 33 ; § 7. An obscure passage, p. 34 ; § 8. Contemporaneous copies, p. 35 ; § 9. Linguistic peculiarities, p. 37; The text, p, 38. 15. Anthony Babington to Queen Mary. London, 3/13 August 1586, . ... .46 16. Gilbert Curll to Barnaby. Chartley, Friday, 29 July/8 August 1586, ...... 47 SECTION II Confessions and Examinations of Anthony Babington 17. Babington’s First Confession. Ely House, 18/20 August 1586, ...... 49 § 1. First acquaintance with Mary’s party, p. 49; § 2. Ballard’s arrival, p. 52 ; § 3. Discussions, p. 54; § 4. Bab- ington leader, p. 56; § 5. Surprise of the Queen’s person, p. 57; § 6. Other conspirators, p. 58; § 7. Poley, p. 68; § 8. Lingering, p. 59 ; § 9. Gilbert revives the plot, p. 60; § 10. Details, p. 62; § 11. The correspondence, p. 63 ; § 12. Final plans, p. 66. 18. Second Examination of Anthony Babington. Ely House, 20 August 1586, . .67 CONTENTS ix 19. Third Examination of Anthony Babington. No date,. 76 20. Fourth Examination of Anthony Babington. 20 and 21 August 1586, . .77 21. Fifth Examination of Anthony Babington. No date, . 79 22. Sixth Examination of Anthony Babington. No date,. 88 23. Seventh Examination of Anthony Babington. No date, 89 24. Eighth Examination of Anthony Babington, 2 Sep- tember 1586, . .90 25. Ninth Examination of Anthony Babington. 8 Sep- tember 1586 . .96 SECTION III Letters of Gilbert Gifford 26. Gilbert Gifford to Gilbert Curll. London, 24 April 1586, . ... 99 27. Headings by Phelippes for letter from ? Gifford to Morgan. London, 24 May ? 1586, . 101 28. Gilbert Gifford to Thomas Phelippes. ? Near Chartley, 7 July 1586, . .103 29. Gilbert Gifford to Sir Francis Walsingham. London, 11 July 1586, ..... 105 30. Same to Same. London, 12 July 1586, . 109 31. Notes from three letters by Gilbert Gifford to Walsing- ham. London, ? 14, ? 15, ? 16 July 1586, . Ill 32 Same to Same. London, ? 16 July 1586, .114 33. Same to Same. London, ? 19 July 1586, . 116 34. Same to Same. London, 19 or 20 July 1586, . .117 APPENDIX TO SECTION III Gilbert Gifford’s Letters after the Plot, 1586-1590, 118 § 1. The new understanding, p. 118 ; § 2. Ordination, p. 122; § 3. Spy life in Paris, p. 123 ; § 4. In Prison, p. 126. X MARY STUART AND THE BABINGTON PLOT SECTION IV Various Writers I. Four Letters from Sir Francis Walsingham 35. Sir Francis Walsingham to Thomas Phelippes. ? Rich- mond, 2 August 1586, .... 131 36. Same to Same. ? Richmond, 3 August 1586, . 132 37. Same to Same. Richmond, 3 August 1586, . .134 38. Same to Same. Same day, .... 135 II. Extracts from the Official Record of the Trial 136 39. Examination of John Ballard. 16 and 18 August 1586, 137 40. Attestations of Babington, Nau, and Curll to Queen Mary’s Letter III. [l], 5, and 6 September 1586, . 139 41. Headings for the Bloody Letter, . 140 42 Confession of Jacques Nau. 6 September 1586, . 141 43. Examination of Gilbert Curll. 23 September 1586, . 143 44. Examination of Jacques Nau. 21 September 1586, . 144 45. Examination of Gilbert Curll. 21 September 1586, 146 46. Nau’s Regrets and Curll’s Dissuasions. 25 October 1586, . .148 III. An Order from Queen Elizabeth and Lord Burghley’s Answer 47. Queen Elizabeth’s Secretary to Lord Burghley. 15 October 1586, ..... 149 48. Lord Burghley to Sir Francis Walsingham. Burghley, 16 October 1586, . .150 IV. Father Crichton’s Memoir, 1582-1587 49. De Missione Scotica Puncta quaedam. Chambery, l6l 1, 151 English Translation, . .162 CONTENTS xi APPENDIX George Gifford’s Plot, 1583-1586, , . 169-175 Abstracts or extracts from the letters of the Nuncio Castelli, pp. 169, 170; John Baptist Taxis, pp. 169, 170; B. de Mendoza, p 170; The Nuncio Ragazzoni, p. 171; Father Hey wood, S.J., p. 171; Confession of John Savage, p. 172; Examinations of Conspirators, p. 173; Articles by Young, p. 173 ; Gilbert Gifford, p. 174 ; Father Persons, S.J., p. 175. References.—This book was entirely compiled from the original documents at the Record Office and elsewhere (below, p. ccxii), and my references were made to them. Meantime, however, the great series of Scottish and Foreign Calendars were in progress and eventually covered the whole period under review. Then seeing how very useful these Calendars are, especially the Calendar of Scottish Papers, vol. viii., edited by Mr. W. Boyd, I freely and throughout added references to it, and even where a volume number is not repeated, this vol. viii. will always be understood. Nevertheless, it would not have been scholarly to have removed the references to the manuscripts, even though for the purposes of the notes, the calendars may contain all the details required. Moreover, these references to MSS. may also be used as a secondaiy and practicable (though less expeditious) way of arriving at the calendared document. INTRODUCTION SECTION I The Ban against the Prince of Orange, 1579 to 1584. 1. Loyalty to Queen Mary. The story is told that Queen Victoria, calling once on the late Sir John Millais, took his little boy, whose face is familiar to us in more than one of the great painter’s pictures, and set him on her knee.