Throughout the lifetime of Queen Elizabeth the I, several attempts were made on her life. One of the most well known of those plots was the Babington plot. In 1585, John Ballard, a Jesuit priest, came to England to start a plot to assassinate the Queen. He secured support and aid within the Northern Gentry who had remained loyal to Catholicism upon his arrival. He resolved to kill Elizabeth after consorting with three friends, Dr. William Gifford, Christopher Hodgson, and Gilbert Gifford. In the Babington Plot, Gilbert was the lynch pin. Gilbert was a deacon who had become privy to the plot in Rheims, France, upon becoming friends with a man named John Savage. Upon returning to Rye, England, Gilbert was arrested and subjected to torture by Francis Walsingham and his agents. He agreed to become a double agent, continuing to serve his role in the plot. He eventually worked for Mary, Queen of Scots at Chartley House, pretending to smuggle messages out of her residence and delivering them to the conspirators, but instead delivering them into Walsingham's hands, including Mary's letter that ultimately sealed her fate and those of the plotters.
What if Gilbert had not been arrested by Walsingham and made to work as a double agent? Could the Babington plot had succeeded and placed Mary on the throne without this man serving as the key double agent in this plot?
What if Gilbert had not been arrested by Walsingham and made to work as a double agent? Could the Babington plot had succeeded and placed Mary on the throne without this man serving as the key double agent in this plot?