On July 17, 1586 a plot was discovered involving Mary Queen of Scots and England’s Elizabeth I. It seems that Mary did not like the fact that her cousin Elizabeth was crowned Queen of England over her. Mary was pretty angry that she was pushed aside and given the honorary title of Queen over some tiny kingdom at the tip of the Island. Well, she was not going to stand for that, no sir!
As the custom was back then, 438 years ago, if a monarch wanted to over throw another monarch, he or she would enlist the support and resources of a major religious group. In Mary’s case, she was a staunch Catholic, and gave considerable money and consideration to the church as Queen of Scotland. Now it was time for the shoe to fall, as it were. Mary went to the Bishops and other leaders of the Catholic Church and promised them that if they assisted her in getting the throne away from Elizabeth, she would make England a Catholic nation and toss the Protestants who supported Elizabeth out on their ears.
Enter our hero, of sorts. This was almost 500 years ago, remember? Kings and Queens were out trumping each other left and right. Kingdom’s changed hands so many times, a score card was often need to keep track of who was King, Queen or Emperor over what country. So, in order to help her retain her power, Elizabeth I called in a man who had been around the Court for a long time. He held so many positions of power it was almost easy to call him King. His name was, Sir Francis Walsingham. Not a young man, but not old either, he had been married and widowed a few times, had amassed some wealth and was respected in his field. Even though she called on him for his help in this coup in the works, Elizabeth did not like Francis. She was even recorded as saying she destained him. But, his loyalty to the crown was unwavering. He wasn’t Elizabeth’s biggest fan either. When he spoke to her, he decided the best course of action was to develop a network of spies. Spies for Elizabeth, spies to spy on Mary, and spies to spy on each other and both Queens at the same time. The thing about spies, they mustkeep in the shadows, and almost ghostlike in their activities. So, what better name for this new network of agents and double agents and a few triple agents than Walsingham’s Secret Service? The drawback if it was that, was that in order for this system to be effective it had to have over 100 almost 200 men and women in its employ. Elizabeth commissioned her secret service, and they were well funded, and she was well protected. Even if England couldn’t afford it.
Elizabeth wanted so much to be the popular Queen, but as you know, you cannot make everyone happy all of the time. Elizabeth saw this on more than one occasion. Plots were discovered against her. Walsingham and his secret agents were able to successfully thwart the assassination attempts, government over throw tactics, and any and all threats in general. However, his biggest challenge was still with family, Elizabeth’s family.
Mary put together an elaborate plan to have her cousin removed from power and for her to take the throne of England. This was no secret to Elizabeth. The spy game on this one case took a series of twists and turns, shoots and ladders, and number of other clichés and it took for what seemed like a lifetime, until Walsingham and his army of spies out spied and out gunned and out smarted Mary Queen of Scots and her band of not so merry men.
The night Walsingham moved in on her, Mary knew she was doomed. The only course her cousin Elizabeth could take with her was to charge her with treason along with anyone who even remotely looked like they were on Mary’s side. She plead innocent at her trial, that only lasted on one day in October of 1586, but it took Elizabeth a while to sign her death warrant. Mary was beheaded 4 months later on Feb. 8, 1587. She was 44 years old. Several dozens of Mary Queen of Scots friends, advisors, clergymen and staff were also put to either the executioner’s axe, his gallows, or burned at the stake.
In a grateful gesture, Elizabeth had wanted Walsingham and his band of secret service agents to stay on with her until she died on March 24, 1603 at 70 years old. God had other plans. Walsingham died first, on April 6, 1590, 11 years before Elizabeth. But the Queen kept her secret service people. In fact, that army dwindled down to only a select few over time, and eventually became better known as Britian’s MI6. Centuries later, a man named Ian Fleming came to be in their employ, and there was an immediate bond. The rest, as they say is history. ‘Walsingham, Francis Walsingham. I’ll have a Mead, shaken, not stirred.’ Ahhh…. no. It doesn’t quit roll off your tongue, but you get the idea.