ABSTRACT
The arrival of Mary Queen of Scots in England after her Scottishdefeat in 1568 led to a long series of conspiracies. These broke out inthe wake of the crisis caused not only by Mary’s sudden eruption on the English scene but by a new diplomatic débâcle: the Elizabethan government, desperate for cash, seized an Italian fleet laden with bullion intended for the Spanish government in the Netherlands. This proved a landmark in the slow breakdown in relations between Spain and England which culminated in the sailing of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The first complex of attempts to destabilise Elizabeth’s Protestant government were overlapping in purpose but disconnected. They developed in the tense atmosphere of the spring and summer of 1569. There was now a critical situation in Elizabethan Court politics. At the end of a decade of Elizabethan government, Protestantism was not yet secure in its hold on the country and the question of the succession remained open and disturbing. In the intrigues and schemes of this year it is necessary to disentangle the roles of Mary and of two groups of nobles – those at Court who disliked the prestige and policies of William Cecil, and the Catholic earls in the north.
