Ridolfi Plot In 1571 The Spy Ring

Alex Nordhoff

Mrs. Carroll

English IV

14 November 2017

The Spy Ring

The long reign of Elizabeth I was a great example of how a powerful woman could be a better and more fearsome leader than a King. But, around the Queen there was an essential ring of spies, which was made up of pretty much only men. This is what we define as her her ring of spies, and she placed Walsingham in charge. Walsingham was one of Elizabeth's most loyal ministers. The spy ring’s goal was to watch the Queen’s back and to guard her life. Due to their hard work and loyalty to the Queen, the spy ring discovered many evil schemes to overthrow Queen Elizabeth, and to put Queen Mary, from Scotland, on the throne. Due to the immense victory of this spy ring, Queen Elizabeth

But, as soon as Queen Mary got to England, things began to speed up. She was always being targeted by disgruntled Catholics who would not switch to the Protestant beliefs that Elizabeth had.

Soon, many schemes were revealed, such as the Ridolfi Plot in 1571. So far, the plots had been discovered in time and Elizabeth’s life had been spared. But, her life being endangered was continually becoming more and more of an issue. Cecil began to clearly see really how big of an issue this was becoming. So, he called upon Queen Elizabeth’s leader of her spy ring, who was more commonly known as Francis Walsingham.

Francis Walsingham was a very wise and intelligent man. He was Protestant through and through, which made him a perfect candidate for Queen Elizabeth’s spy ring. When the Protestant faith was re-established as England's official religion, he returned to England because of his beliefs. He quickly rose to positions of power in England, becoming Secretary of State in 1568. He swiftly started to play an important role in obtaining intelligence. Without the many other hobbies and jobs that consumed much of Cecil's time and effort, Walsingham could finally focus on running Elizabeth's spy

Success therefore depended on calculating the exact sequence of thousands of holes. Also popular was the practice of conveying information in invisible ink. Written in milk or lemon juice, the secret message could be read as the page was warmed over a candle and the letters appeared. Innocent text in normal ink was often written alongside the hidden message in order to throw a spy off the scent.

Walsingham knew that this work was critical to his success, and established a spy school to provide formal training for recruits. The security of the country was at stake, after all. Mistakes were unthinkable.

For security purposes, Mary, Queen of Scots, was regularly moved from one residence to another. She still had her entourage and spent her days sewing, reading or hunting, but in reality Mary was a prisoner. She did not, however, realise the level of scrutiny she was under. Walsingham loathed Mary and everything she stood for, and vowed to bring her down. It was to take him almost 20 years. But when he discovered in 1586 that she was corresponding with a group of Catholics led by the young Anthony Babington, he seized his