Ridolfi Plot

Timeline

1. 1570–1571Florence · TuscanyAfter the failure of the Northern Rebellion, Ridolfi judged that foreign aid was needed to overthrow Elizabeth. He lobbied the pope and Philip II: the Duke of Alba would invade from the Netherlands with about ten thousand men, English Catholic nobles would rise, the queen would be assassinated, and Mary would marry Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, as the core of the new regime. Mary's adviser, Bishop John Leslie of Ross, participated in the contacts.
2. 1571Dover · KentIn April 1571, Ridolfi's messenger was detained at Dover, and the secret letters he carried gave William Cecil knowledge of the correspondence between the papacy, Spain, and Norfolk. The Bishop of Ross was arrested and interrogated, and the Duke of Norfolk was again imprisoned. Ridolfi himself was abroad at the time and thus escaped trial.
3. 1572Tower of London · LondonParliament executed the Duke of Norfolk, England's highest-ranking noble, for treason, signaling to domestic and foreign audiences that Elizabeth's regime would not tolerate a palace coup. Mary was not immediately executed, but her correspondence and visitors were more strictly restricted. England subsequently accelerated anti-Catholic legislation and improved intelligence monitoring of continental conspiracies.