by Lee Miller
Walsingham easily intercepts the correspondence: the brewer is his agent. Mary’s letters are delivered to her guard, Sir Amyas Faulet, another Walsingham man, who passes them to code-breaker Thomas Phelippes. They are then sent back to Faulet, who hands them to the brewer, who turns them over to an unnamed agent, who hands them back to Faulet, who forwards them to their destination. It is all a matter of security: neither the brewer nor the anonymous agent is aware that the other is a spy.77
With Mary Stuart’s incriminating letter to Babington in hand, Walsingham has enough evidence for a conviction. Thus far, said Camden, had Walsingham spun this thread alone, without acquainting the rest of the Queens Council. Ballard, one of the plotters, is arrested in August for being a priest. / knew full well what a master in the art of deception was this Walsingham, lamented Father Weston, Babington’s clergyman, and how powerful in accomplishing whatever his mind was set upon.19
Panicked, Babington flees for asylum to the home of a government official who offers help: none other than Sir Francis Walsingham! Realizing— too late — the trap laid for him, Babington escapes. Racing through the dark streets to Westminster, he changes clothing with fellow conspirator Robert Gage, who in turn trades garments with another named John Charnock. Then immediately they withdrew themselves into Saint John s Wood near the city, whither also Barnwell and Dunn made their retreat. In the meantime, they were publicly proclaimed traitors all over England. They … cut off Babington s hair, disguised and sullied the natural beauty of his face with the rind of green walnuts and, being hardly put to it by hunger, they went to a house of the Bellamies near Harrow on the Hill… There were they hid in barns.80
August 14, ten days later. The conspirators are caught and hauled into London, to everyone’s indescribable relief. The city testifying their public joy by ringing of bells, making ofbon-fires, and singing of psalms. The peals of Lambeth Palace are answered across the Thames in the belfry of St. Margaret’s in Westminster for joy of the taking of the traitors81
The conspirators, examined for days, cut one anothers’ throats by their confessions82 In September all of them — with the notable exception of Poley and Gifford — are hanged on a scaffold in St. Giles’ Fields. Elizabeth orders Burghley to shield Mary, recoiling from the thought of prosecuting a kinswoman and anointed Queen. But the Bond of Association that Walsingham shrewdly created in 1584 binds her under parliamentary law to appoint a tribunal to try the Scottish Queen. Over Elizabeth’s objections, Mary is tried at Fotheringhay Castle in October before a commission of forty-six.
The Trial
No witnesses are summoned for the trial, despite a government statute dictating that no prisoner can be condemned without the testimony of two witnesses present. Evidence against Mary stems solely from the statements of her secretaries, Claude Nau and Gilbert Curie, who notwithstanding were absent from the trial.83 Both men are threatened, both offered pardon if they condemn the Queen. For his part, Nau maintains that he did stoutly oppose the accusation against his mistress, which appeareth not by the records. Twenty years later, he was still proclaiming her innocence.84
Conviction hinges on Mary’s damning letter to Babington, in which the plot against Elizabeth was commended and approved85 The correspondence is missing. The commissioners are furnished with only Walsing-ham’s copy of the original, prepared by the master forger Thomas Phelippes, himself absent from the trial. Mary, fighting tears, swears she neither wrote it nor approved of the assassination, and that Babington might confess what he list, but it was a flat lie. Her enemies, she cried, might easily get the ciphers she used, and with the same write many things forgedly and falsely86 Indeed, Babington recalled a postscript on Mary’s letter, requesting the names of the conspirators. It was Phelippes’s handiwork cunningly added, says Camden, in the same characters87
On the stand Mary hotly accuses Walsingham of entrapment; that the forgery had been committed to bring her to her end. The scathing accusation brings Walsingham to his feet. The courtroom falls silent. / call God (said he) to witness that as a private person, I have done nothing unbeseeming an honest man, neither in my public condition and quality have I done any-thing unworthy of my place. I confess that, out of my great care for the safety of the Queen and realm, I have curiously endeavoured to search and sift out all plots and designs against the same. Then, alluding to Ballard, but strangely ignoring Babington, he remarked: If I have tampered anything with him, why did he not discover it, to save his life? Even more incredible is what happens next. Mary — an anointed queen — immediately apologizes to Walsingham, begging him not to be angry and praying that he give as little credence to those who slandered her than she did to such as accused him.88
The Verdict
October 25. The Commission finds Mary Stuart guilty. The sentence is death. Ugly murmurings are heard across England, charging that the Bond of Association was designed to entrap her.89 The trial is condemned as a farce, allegations made that spies and emissaries were employed by crafty dissimulation, counterfeit letters, and other cunning devices to circumvent her. Indeed, Mary’s own secretaries seemed to be bribed and corrupted with money.90
Elizabeth wavers. Pronouncement of the verdict is delayed five weeks while she weighs the appeals of both Scottish and French embassies. Meanwhile, in a now familiar pattern, someone spreads false rumours and terrifying reports in order to strike the greater terrour into the Queen, to scare her into signing the death warrant. That the Spanish fleet was already arrived at Milford Haven; that the Scots were broken into England; that the Duke of Guise was landed in Sussex with a strong army; that the Queen of Scots was escaped out of Prison and had raised an army; that the northern parts were up in rebellion; that there was a new conspiracy on foot to kill the Queen, and set the City of London on Fire; yea, that the Queen was dead.91 Walsingham’s technique is disturbingly effective.
Execution
With the Queen irresolute, the Stafford Conspiracy unfolds. Its author is Walsingham.92 William Stafford, the brother of Elizabeth’s ambassador in Paris, owes Walsingham a favor. Following orders, he visits Chateauneuf, the French ambassador in London, and broaches the idea of assassinating Elizabeth by laying gunpowder under her bed. The man he suggests for the job (a Walsingham spy) is lodged in Newgate prison. It is a setup. Walsingham immediately informs Elizabeth of the plot. Chateauneuf’s secretary is apprehended at the jail and Chateauneuf is placed under house arrest. The results are threefold: the French cannot intervene for Mary’s life with their ambassador restrained; Elizabeth, terrified, signs the death warrant; Walsingham gains favor by exposing the plot.
Elizabeth commands William Davison, Walsingham’s creature, to swear out a warrant for Mary’s execution.93 Davison immediately does so; he shows the warrant to Walsingham and then, contrary to the Queen’s instructions, delivers it to the Privy Council. The following day Elizabeth orders it stayed, but the Council rushes it to Fotheringhay Castle and sends for an executioner. Incredibly, Thomas Harrison, Walsing-ham’s secretary, will later admit to forging Elizabeth’s signature on the death warrant itself.94 He also claims to have aided Phelippes in fabricating all of Mary’s correspondence which implicated her at the trial. On the morning of February 8, 1587, Mary Queen of Scots is beheaded.
This is how to eliminate a queen. Walsingham orchestrated it from start to finish. We can never know how many in his pay contributed to her downfall, but the same Machiavellian technique could easily have eliminated 116 men, women, and children on Roanoke Island and, in so doing, destroyed Raleigh’s power.
But did Walsingham do it? He had opportunity: as a Privy Councillor within the Queen’s Court, he occupied the highest level of government and had a thorough understanding of Raleigh’s plans. He also had means: a vast spy network with loyal personnel who could execute the assignment — secretly, swiftly, effectively. More than anyone else, Walsingham had the ability to sabotage Raleigh’s Roanoke venture. The subtlety and minute reckoning of cause and effect required of such
an operation is consistent with his method. He would work out every detail of Roanoke and factor in contingency plans. Walsingham called in favors: Fernandez was indebted to him for his life. We have seen the elimination of opponents who stood in his way. Rivals much stronger than Raleigh — an anointed queen! — have been brought down.
Walsingham once observed that violent diseases must have violent remedies.95 If so, what disease did Raleigh represent? If we can answer that, we have motive. And then Walsingham alone will possess all four criteria for murder.
17 THE MOTIVE
The Times were partial and malignant, and Malice blind, which forgeth Crimes against the Innocent; but Justice clearsighted, which being the venger of wicked facts, is to be expected from God.
Elizabeth I1
A Master Plan
Walsingham is the Queen’s Principal Secretary. Secretary of State. Master politician. Machiavellian. He has spent his career painstakingly advancing certain political ends. He has balanced parties against one another on a razor’s edge, accurately judged the repercussions of each minute maneuver, negotiated deals, and manipulated the most powerful heads of state with such finesse that they never suspected his subtle engineering behind their own responses.
Walsingham’s politics are vastly larger than the picayune jealousies of Hatton or the self-aggrandizement of Leicester. His adversary is king of the most powerful empire in the known world. Walsingham operates according to a master plan, his methods worked out well in advance. Whatever his personal motivation may be, this is certain: Walsingham is a strategist. His purpose is single-minded, his challenge to remain one step ahead of the game, meticulously calculating move and countermove. Exploiting the psychology of his opponent.
Loose Cannon
Despite his careful work, Walsingham has never been a favorite with the Queen. Walsingham had been employed in several embassies and other matters of state for many years before she could be prevailed with to make him a knight, notwithstanding it appears that he frequently asked it.1 Perhaps she is afraid of his power. Walsingham’s greatest obstacle is not statecraft, but Elizabeth. His difficulty is convincing her to adopt his policies and not do everything by halves. It is a virulent source of frustration to him to be so greatly crossed? In politics timing is everything. Walsingham succeeds partly by playing on the Queen’s fear, partly by utilizing factions within the Privy Council to his advantage.
Enter Raleigh: brilliant, energetic, full of ideas, Elizabeth’s darling. Were he merely a courtier, all might have been well. Were he content to play the part of the Queen’s lover, amass honors, and leave politics alone, there would have been no trouble. But Raleigh is a far different personality. He is a thinker, a problem-solver, a driving force with a hero’s frame of mind. He will go after Spain and he will do so boldly. As did his brother Gilbert.
Raleigh’s actions are directly in the way. Little does he realize that his brash thrust at the West Indian caravels stands to undo years of Walsingham’s careful maneuvering.4 That his patriotic strike at the enemy is thwarting a meticulously designed program of cause and effect, of diplomacy and dealing. The Queen, ignorant of her Secretary’s design, grants Raleigh warships and ammunition, the right to impress soldiers, and a vast territory in America in which to create a base. Raleigh is a loose cannon. Walsingham must restrain him.
To Bid Everything
If Raleigh’s cross-purposes were Walsingham’s only motive for murder, we might be hard-pressed to prosecute our case. It is difficult to prove after the fact, and much of Walsingham’s activity was, by its very nature, conducted in the dark. Fortunately, there is another motive, much more concrete and far more personal.
The elimination of Mary Queen of Scots was Walsingham’s crowning achievement. His removal of Elizabeth’s greatest rival was the culmination of eighteen years of unceasing effort.5 It has cost him untold resources, both human and financial. Many agents were involved, some over a period of years, working their way into trusted positions. As reward, Walsingham hopes to receive a portion of the conspirator Babington’s estate, confiscated by the Crown. Yet in the weeks and months that follow the exposure of the plot, he sinks to the lowest point in his career. Why?
There is more than honor and reputation at stake. We sense a desperation, and when we look more closely at Walsingham’s file we find something alarming. Walsingham did not merely want Babington’s estate, he had to have it. He required it. In fact, Walsingham needed the money.
Finances … and Debt
Walsingham’s spy structure is too costly. Largely his own creation, it is conducted with only partial government subsidy — most of the expenses are out of pocket.6 Walsingham’s agents are notoriously well paid. It is said that he doles out large sums.1 Figures are unavailable for the substantial amount he spends on diplomatic entertainment and overseas operations. The only certain thing that can be said is that Walsingham’s campaign against Philip, the wealthiest monarch in the modern world, comes at tremendous cost.
1578. Walsingham advances £5,000 to the Dutch rebels in the expectation that Elizabeth’s loan will follow.8 It does not; the money is lost. 1581. Walsingham, heavily in debt to the Crown, requests Hatton to persuade Elizabeth to relieve him of its pressure.9 1584-1585. The cost of the secret service soars to £10,030. 1586. It reaches an all-time high of £13,260. How much of this does Walsingham pay? His annual salary as Principal Secretary is only £ioo.10
In addition are the demands of life at Court. The cost of a London residence with its inflated rates is compounded by compulsory gifts to the Queen, which entail huge expenditure. New Year’s Day, 1576: Walsingham presents Elizabeth with a glittering collar of gold, ornamented with a pair of opal serpents and a pyramid of sparks and diamonds, in the top thereof a strawberry with a rock ruby}1 Walsingham is living beyond his means.
Sir Philip Sidney
A financial crisis is looming. Yet neither Walsingham’s spy network, nor loans to Dutch rebels, nor expensive London living, nor diplomatic entertainments precipitate it. It occurs on October 17, 1586: the day Sir Philip Sidney died.12
Sidney is the Earl of Leicester’s nephew. He is handsome, chivalrous, and highly popular at Court. He is also overwhelmed with debt. 1581. He begs the Queen for a grant, apologizing that need obeys no law and forgets blushing.u 1583. At the age of twenty-nine, the likeable Sidney marries Walsingham’s daughter, Frances. If the Secretary of State hoped for the match to be lucrative, he is wrong.
In 1585 Sidney escapes his domestic woes and goes to war in the Netherlands. Commanding a detachment outside Zutphen, he is surprised by an enemy convoy. Shot in the thigh, he dies of gangrene. All of London mourns the loss. Sidney’s body is transported back to England in state, the ship decked out under black sail. In a private chamber Walsingham holds a legal will in clenched fist. Incredibly, it stipulates that he shall inherit his son-in-law’s staggering debts along with those of his parents. The sale of Sidney’s estate does not equal a third of the amount.14
Walsingham has only himself to blame. When Sidney left for the Low Countries, he conveyed a letter of attorney to Walsingham, authorizing the sale of lands to appease his creditors. Preoccupied with Babington’s conspiracy, Walsingham failed to act. Sidney’s death nullifies the conveyance; the lands cannot be sold. And as I did hear, Burghley comments, you had good authority to have sold lands for discharge of the debts both of the father, the mother, and the son. But if your authority shall die with him for lack of foresight in making the conveyance … that you have, as the lawyers’ term is, assumed upon yourself, you are in very hard case.15
In fact Walsingham is in dire straits. Overwhelmed with the enormity of his obligation, he informs Leicester that the funeral must be discreet. Ignoring him, Leicester mounts a spectacular affair. Three hundred paid mourners outfitted in black — at Walsingham’s expense — accompany a parade of nobles and officials to a splendid military funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral.16 Sir Philip Sidney, dying indebted to the Flushingers seven
teen thousand pounds for which Walsingham was bound, Leicester refuseth to make payment of one penny out of his land.11
In desperation, Walsingham petitions the Queen for the vacant Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster for the income it provides. Leicester opposes the appointment, preferring his own candidate. Elizabeth turns Walsingham down.18 Stung by disbelief and rage, Walsingham quits the Court in December, only days after Mary Stuart’s proclamation of death is read. I would not spend so long a time as I have done in that place, Walsingham flung at Burghley, subject to so infinite toil and discomfort, not to be made Duke of Lancaster.19
Babington’s Estate
The Queen is rich as a result of Anthony Babington’s execution. The considerable fortune from his estate is forfeit to the Crown. Elizabeth immediately orders its assessment: rental income from the magnificent Babington Hall; three manors in Lincolnshire: Winterton, Houghton-on-Ham, and Houghton-Bickering; Lee Manor in Derbyshire along with six parcels of land and tenements; tenements at Kingston and Thrumpton in Nottinghamshire, at Bredon, West Terrington, and Harrick.20
March 17. Babington’s estate is granted in its entirety as a reward to a faithful servant. He is also to receive all goods, personals, and moveables of Babington’s possession, the Queen reserving for herself only an unusual clock.21 By now Walsingham has returned to Court, the rupture with Elizabeth mended, though his finances are as precarious as ever. What better way to alleviate his need than with Babington’s own money? There is only one problem. The recipient is not Walsingham at all… but Sir Walter Raleigh! The gift bears the royal stamp of the Great Seal, conveyed without fee.22 It is an enormous blow to Walsingham.
