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Mary's
character
Mary did much to bring about her own downfall. She shocked many
by her behaviour as Queen of Scotland, insisted at every opportunity
that she was Elizabeth's heir, and could not resist being involved
in Catholic plots against Elizabeth's life and throne. This was
a dangerous game to play, and sooner or later it was likely that
she would go too far.
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Mary's
claim to the English throne
Mary's claim to the English throne placed her on a collision course
with Elizabeth and her government. The claim was valid as long
as Elizabeth remained unmarried and had no children. This caused
alarm in Protestant England because Mary was a Catholic. Therefore,
from the moment Mary arrived in England, Elizabeth resisted calls
for Mary's execution in the 1570s on the grounds that Mary, like
herself, was a Queen chosen by God. However, the pressure continued
to mount - particularly when it became clear that Elizabeth was
too old to bear children.
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Mary's
involvement in Catholic plots
Mary foolishly allowed herself to be drawn into several Catholic
plots during her imprisonment in England. She denied knowledge
of the earlier plots. However, the Throckmorton Plot of 1583 and
the Babington Plot of 1586, provided Walsingham with the evidence
he needed to condemn Mary. Mary's involvement in these plots caused
such a build-up of outrage against Mary that Elizabeth found it
increasingly difficult to resist demands for her death.
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Last
moves: Elizabeth's role
At first, Elizabeth seemed to hesitate. Mary was pronounced guilty
on 29th October 1586 but Elizabeth did not sign the death warrant
until 1st February 1587. Even then, she ordered her secretary,
William Davison, not to let it go. However, she may have finally
given in to the mounting pressure for Mary's death by arranging
for the warrant to be sent to Fotheringay 'without her knowledge'
- thus removing any blame from herself for Mary's execution.
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The
Bond of Association
The murder of William of Orange in 1584 produced a real fear that
Elizabeth would be the next victim of a Catholic assassin. Members
of the Privy Council were so alarmed that they all signed the
Bond of Association. The Bond threatened the life of anyone who
might benefit from a plot against the Queen's life, so it was
clearly aimed against Mary and placed her in a much more dangerous
position than before.
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Last
moves: The Babington Plot
It was the Babington Plot that set in motion the final sequence
of events in Mary's life because of the evidence it provided of
her treason. Elizabeth really had no choice but to order a trial
and this could only have one outcome. The nature and speed of
the trial - Mary was not allowed to see any of the letters used
to condemn her, or to question any of the witnesses who had testified
against her - shows how determined her enemies were to destroy
her.
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Mary's
Catholic connections
Mary had powerful Catholic allies in Europe, such as Philip of
Spain or the Duke of Guise in France, who believed that Elizabeth
was illegitimate and that Mary was the rightful Queen of England.
Therefore, as long as Mary remained alive and in captivity, there
was always a danger of Catholic plots to overthrow Elizabeth,
or of actual invasion by Spanish or French forces. To men like
Cecil and Walsingham, the best way of protecting Elizabeth was
by removing Mary.
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War
with Spain
Before 1585, Elizabeth could claim that Mary's execution would
anger Philip of Spain to the point where he might declare war
on England. When war did eventually break out for other reasons
in 1585, there was no longer any political reason for keeping
Mary alive. This made it easier for Elizabeth to dispose of Mary
and helps to explain why more decisive action was taken against
her after the Babington Plot of 1586.
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Last
moves: Burghley's role
In the end, Mary's fate seems to have been decided by Burghley
and the Council rather than by the Queen. The Council had been
demanding Mary's death for many years - this was too good an opportunity
to miss. It was Burghley who persuaded Davison to hand over the
signed death warrant and Burghley who organised its delivery to
Fotheringay.
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he way we explain the reason for Mary's execution depends on what
we are trying to explain. Usually we use long, medium and short-term
reasons to explain an event in history because each one on its
own only gives part of the explanation.
On
the right - stacked on top of each other - are a number of long,
medium and short-term factors that led to Mary's execution. First,
decide which are the short-term or 'trigger' factors and move them
into the relevant boxes below. Then, link each 'trigger' back to
its matching medium and long-term factor. You should end up with
a three-part explanation of why Mary Queen of Scots was executed.
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