Anthony Babington

Anthony Babington

Anthony Babington (born October 24, 1561 in Dethick , Derbyshire , † September 20, 1586 in London , Middlesex ) was the main culprit of the Babington conspiracy named after him , which aimed to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I. The discovery of this conspiracy ultimately led to the trial of Maria Stuart . He came from the English noble family Babington .

Life

Anthony Babington was born into a wealthy Catholic family, the third son of Sir Henry Babington of Dethick and Mary Darcy in Dethick, Derbyshire. His father died in 1571 when Anthony was nine years old. His mother married Henry Foljambe after the death of his father. Babington stayed in Dethick until about 1577 when he was hired by the Earl of Shrewsbury, who was Maria Stuart's guardian at the time of her captivity. It is likely that he assisted Mary to gain the English throne during this period.

From 1579 he was married to Margery Draycott. Around 1580 he met Thomas Morgan on the continent . This persuaded him to transport letters for Maria while she was still held captive by Babington's former master, the Earl of Shrewsbury . Around 1586, after Mary Stuart was moved to Tutbury , Babington's role as a messenger ended because the connection with Mary Stuart was initially lost. At the beginning of 1586 Babington received two letters from France, probably for Maria; but he always refused to use himself as a messenger. In fact, at this time he thought of fleeing England and tried to get a passport with his Welsh friend Thomas Salisbury, which turned out to be in vain.

Representation of a meeting of the group around Babington

During the reign of Elizabeth I, which was marked by denominational tensions, she was particularly concerned about the future influence of Maria Stuart. Babington itself did not pose much of a challenge to the Queen's security forces, led by Francis Walsingham . The suspect Gilbert Gifford was questioned as part of the Walsingham's investigation . To avoid punishment, Gifford agreed to work as a double agent. He established contact with the French embassy in London and organized the smuggling of letters, some in beer kegs, from Maria Stuart to her followers. Gifford made sure that Walsingham had access to the correspondence. This brought Mary's petitions to the French and the Spanish to light.

On July 6, 1586, Babington wrote a letter to Mary Queen of Scots, in which he announced his group of conspirators' plans for the murder of Elizabeth and the installation of Mary as Queen of England. In it he asked Maria as the rightful heir to the throne to authorize the project. In her answer, Maria emphasized the need for help from abroad if the rescue attempt should be successful. Walsingham was able to decipher the encrypted correspondence with the help of the experienced decipherer Thomas Phelippes. When Walsingham and his officers gathered sufficient evidence - some of the material is believed to have been forged - they stepped in and arrested Babington and his followers.

On September 18, 1586, Babington and his thirteen co-conspirators were sentenced to death for high treason. Babington's offer to pay Elizabeth £ 1,000 for a pardon was rejected. The execution of the first seven conspirators, including Anthony Babington, John Ballard and Chidiock Tichborne , took place two days later on September 20, 1586. The convicts were hanged, gutted and quartered . Subsequently, her body parts were displayed in certain places in the city to deter the opponents of the monarchy . Maria Stuart was beheaded on February 8, 1587 .

filming

• In the movie Elizabeth: The Golden Kingdom , Babington is played by Eddie Redmayne .

literature

• Charles Cotton: The Bardon Papers. A Collection of Contemporary Documents (MS. Eg. 2124) Relating to the Trial of Mary Queen of Scots, 1586 . In: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society .
• Babington, Anthony . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 3 : Austria - Bisectrix . London 1910, p. 95 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).