Ridolfi conspiracy

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The Ridolfi conspiracy was a plot by English Catholics around Roberto Ridolfi (1531-1612) in 1570 and 1571. The goal was to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with Maria Stuart . Mary Stuart was to marry Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk , and restore Catholicism as the dominant religion in England.

timeline

Ridolfi's conspiratorial activities

In November 1569, Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland (1528–1572), and Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland (1543–1601), led a rebellion of disaffected Catholic aristocrats from the north of England against the Queen. Elizabeth I succeeded in suppressing this "Northern Rebellion" within a short time, but the discontented nobility did not think of submitting to Elizabeth and therefore sought support abroad. Thereupon Pope Pius V announced his bull " Regnans in Excelsis " in February 1570 . In complete ignorance of the actual political situation, he excommunicated the English queen and released the English from their oath of subjects. At the same time he called on all English Catholics to dethrone Elizabeth as queen. Finally, in August 1570, the imprisoned Duke of Norfolk had to be released from custody.

Roberto Ridolfi was a Florentine banker who settled in London and acted as a negotiator and secret agent for the Pope. He was on good terms with Gueran de Espes , who was the Spanish envoy in England, and with John Leslie , Bishop of Ross, who acted as negotiator between Mary Queen of Scots and the Duke of Norfolk. Ridolfi felt encouraged, perhaps even empowered, because of Elizabeth's excommunication , to plan a Catholic rebellion led by the Duke of Norfolk and an invasion of the Spanish army led by the Duke of Alba . He was also convinced that every second Englishman would fight for the Catholic Queen Maria Stuart. As a banker, he was able to travel between Brussels , Rome and Madrid without arousing suspicion. In March 1571 he let the Duke of Alba in on his plans.

The Duke of Alba should provide 6,000 to 10,000 men. He was to land with this army in Harwich or Portsmouth and then march to London . Norfolk was supposed to free Mary and then arrest Elizabeth as a hostage. The Catholic Faith was to be reinstated in England and Mary and Norfolk were to rule England and Scotland together . Realpolitician Alba, however, viewed Ridolfi's plans with incomprehension; he described the banker as a big talker ( “un gran parlaquino” ). The Spanish governor was himself in the fight against William of Orange , he had no soldiers and no money and was therefore only ready to support the Catholic rebels in England if they would hold their ground against Elizabeth for 40 days. He also feared that failure of the conspiracy could lead to the execution of Mary Stuart and the Duke of Norfolk, as well as the persecution of English Catholics. The Spanish King Philip II was also skeptical about the plans to assassinate the English queen, mainly because he needed England as a political counterweight to France .

Despite the rejection and skepticism of these realpoliticians, Ridolfi continued to travel through Europe, he negotiated - albeit unsuccessfully - with the Pope about the divorce of Maria Stuart from her husband Bothwell and he sent encrypted letters to England. Elisabeth knew nothing of this, she even intended to reinstate Maria Stuart as Queen of Scots. Elizabeth's dilemma, however, consisted in the fact that on the one hand Mary was the center of the opposition in England and had strong sympathy with many English, on the other hand France and Spain demanded their release and in Scotland after the murder of the regent Moray in January 1570 a civil war between the Queen's party ( Mary) and the king ( James VI. ) Had broken out.

The failure of the conspiracy

In the summer of 1571, the Scot Charles Baillie (1542-1625) was arrested in Dover with incriminating letters to Maria Stuart. He then betrayed the conspiracy under torture . The English secret service agent Francis Walsingham was commissioned to fully investigate the Ridolfi conspiracy. Within a few days he managed to decipher the content of all letters. So decreed Lord Burghley and Walsingham extensive information about the conspiracies of the last two years and the links Spain to the conspirators. On September 7th, 1571 the Duke of Norfolk was arrested and at the turn of the year 1571/72 the Spanish ambassador de Espes was expelled from England. He then tried to set up an invasion army in Brussels from English and Scottish exiles. But Philip II was not ready to risk war with England.

Roberto Ridolfi stayed outside England in September 1571 and was able to evade the persecution of Burghleys and Walshingham.

Maria Stuart's knowledge of Ridolfi's machinations is not known. She was persuaded to send letters and instructions to Ridolfi. However, the originals of the credentials that Maria and Norfolk are said to have given the Italian have disappeared in an unknown manner. Norfolk did not sign a single letter from Ridolfi to the Pope, the King of Spain or the Duke of Alba. It is not yet clear to what extent Ridolfi's actions were authorized by Norfolk or Maria. Maria Stuart is said to have described the conditions in England critically in her letters. She allegedly complained about the lack of support from France and she expressed concern about the claims of the Count of Huntingdon to the English throne.

The Bishop of Ross and Maria Stuart confessed to their knowledge of the conspiracy. On the basis of the bishop's confession, Lords Arundel, Lumley, Southampton and Cobham were arrested. Bishop von Ross, who remained imprisoned until 1573, also claimed that Maria poisoned her first husband Francis II , murdered the second, and pushed the third onto the battlefield. He then wrote to Maria that he sincerely regretted supporting her.

On January 16, 1572 the trial of the conspirators began. Norfolk wrote a repentant, humble letter to Elizabeth. He asked her to take care of his children and stepchildren. Elisabeth agreed and appointed Lord Burghley as guardian. She signed the death warrant on February 9, 1572, but withdrew it the next day. On May 8, 1572, Parliament asked the Queen to carry out the death sentence against Norfolk. Finally, on June 2, 1572, Burghley convinced the reluctant Elizabeth to order the execution of Norfolk's execution immediately.

But it was also shocking for Elisabeth that a large number of her nobles were among the conspirators. She now decided not to appoint Mary as Queen of Scots and to exclude her return to Scotland forever. George Buchanan was allowed to publish his critical account of the events in Scotland from 1565 to 1567, including Mary's relationship with Darnley and Bothwell. The explosive cassette letters were also published. The Protestants demanded the tightening of the laws against the Catholics and spoke out in favor of the execution of Maria Stuart, who was still refused by Elisabeth. In the English parliament in May 1572 the following opinion was expressed against Maria: “The mistake that a certain person in this country is unreachable for any law has crept into many heads.” A little later the parliament confirmed the law “against Maria, Daughter of Jacob V, former Queen of Scotland, called Queen of Scots ” . Mary was excluded from the succession to the throne in England, anyone who would campaign for her succession in the future was considered a treason and had to face the death penalty.

The English public viewed Mary Stuart as an enemy since 1572 and papism was viewed as an opponent of national English development after the failure of the Ridolfi conspiracy. The Puritans around Walsingham swore the Queen to fight Catholicism and to support both the Huguenots in France and the Dutch War of Liberation under William of Orange.

literature

  • Neville Williams; "Elizabeth of England - ruler of a world empire" ; Wilhelm Heyne Verlag Munich; 7th edition 1991; ISBN 3-453-55028-5
  • John E. Neale; "Elizabeth I - Queen of England" ; unabridged licensed edition for Eugen Diederichs Verlag Munich; 2nd edition 1995; ISBN 3-424-01226-2
  • Geoffrey R. Elton; "England under the Tudors" ; Callwey Verlag Munich; 1983; ISBN 3-7667-0683-7
  • Antonia Fraser; "Maria Stuart - Queen of Scots" ; 1989 licensed edition for Manfred Pawlak Verlagsgesellschaft, Hersching; ISBN 3-88199-636-2
  • Jenny Wormald; "Maria Stuart" ; Publishing house Ploetz Freiburg-Würzburg; 1992; ISBN 3-87640-500-9
  • Ilan Rachum; "Encyclopedia of the Renaissance" ; Licensed edition for Atlantis Verlag, Zurich; ISBN 3-7611-0725-0

Movie

The events were themed in the 1998 film Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett .