How Dangerous Was Mary Queen of Scots? - Learning Objective - Source-based Enquiry

Oct 22, 2026

Learning material focused on evaluating the danger Mary Queen of Scots posed to Queen Elizabeth I’s throne. Students use a source-based approach to analyse threats against Elizabeth’s life, identify key suspects, and examine Elizabethan intelligence work led by William Cecil and Francis Walsingham. The content includes an investigation of the Babington Plot and the Babington Code, including cipher details and coded communications, and concludes with a prompt to judge whether Elizabeth was right to execute Mary.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Learning Objective

Success Criteria

What Was the Threat to Elizabeth I?

Elizabethan Spies

Who Was Sir Francis Walsingham?

Was Mary Queen of Scots a Threat?

The Babington Plot

Was Elizabeth Right to Execute Mary?

Make your judgement

The Tudors How Dangerous Was Mary Queen of Scots? Learning Objective • To make a sustained judgement on how much danger Mary Queen of Scots posed to Queen Elizabeth I’s throne. Success Criteria • To analyse sources to explain the threat Mary Queen of Scots (MQS) posed to Elizabeth I. • To undertake a source-based enquiry to evaluate how dangerous MQS was to the reign of Elizabeth I. • To break the code MQS used in her plot against Elizabeth I. | What Was the Threat to Elizabeth I? | | | --- | --- | | | Working in a pair or a small group, read through the list of threats against Queen Elizabeth’s life.

Who were the main threats?
Fill in the details of your suspect on the suspect sheet.
| | Elizabethan Spies | | | --- | --- | | Today, we have all heard of spies, espionage and MI5 . We are aware that there are threats against every country and secret intelligence services (spies) play an important role in national security.
Queen Elizabeth’s main advisors, William Cecil and Francis Walsingham first developed this role, to ensure the protection of their queen.
By the late 16th century, Sir Francis Walsingham had developed a major network of spies across the country and abroad. | | | Who Was Sir Francis Walsingham? | | | --- | --- | | | Queen Elizabeth was one of the greatest female monarchs of British history. She was popular, strong and a true symbol of female independence. However, her inner circle was composed of men.
When Elizabeth first came to the throne, her most trusted advisor and protector was William Cecil (Lord Burghley) . They were very close, but with the growing threat of Catholic plots, Elizabeth needed someone who was capable of forming an intelligence network to protect her life. | Was Mary Queen of Scots a Threat? Walsingham and his network of spies were constantly monitoring threats to Elizabeth and had to make constant judgements on who was likely to attack and who was a threat. Walsingham had always thought Mary was responsible for many of the threats against Elizabeth’s life, but he had a problem in proving it. Mary was Elizabeth’s cousin and her natural heir. She was also a queen and had a divine right, just like Elizabeth. | | The Babington Plot | | | --- | --- | --- | | |
There are several symbols within the cipher which have no meaning and are meant to confuse, these are labelled as such. Also, there is no letter ‘w’ so ‘w’is substituted with ‘uu’. | Walsingham knew Mary Queen of Scots was involved in many of the plots against Elizabeth, but he was finding it difficult to get the Queen to accept the full danger Mary posed.
In 1586, Walsingham noticed Mary was writing to a group of Catholics led by Anthony Babington. He had a double agent in this group called Gifford. Gifford managed to sneak messages into Mary’s prison which were coded using the Babington Code.
Walsingham was able to read every message Mary sent and received. All he needed was for Mary to write a letter incriminating herself and he would have all the proof he needed for treason. | | | | | | | | | | Was Elizabeth Right to Execute Mary? | | | --- | --- | | | Once Mary had written the letter agreeing for Elizabeth tobe killed, she had committed treason. Though she tried to argue that no monarch with a divine right could be tried by a court, she was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Her execution at Fotheringhay Castle didn’t go to plan. The executioner missed three times and it took over 15 minutes for her to die. | |
Make your judgement – Was Elizabeth right to execute her cousin Mary Queen of Scots? Explain your answer. | |

FAQs

What is the main learning objective of this material?

To make a sustained judgement about how much danger Mary Queen of Scots posed to Queen Elizabeth I’s throne.

Who developed the intelligence role of protecting the queen, and what was their purpose?

William Cecil and Francis Walsingham developed the role to ensure the protection of Elizabeth I by securing information and safeguarding her from threats.

How did Walsingham help obtain proof connected to the Babington Plot?

Walsingham monitored Mary’s coded messages and relied on her writing a letter incriminating herself so there would be sufficient evidence for treason.

Oct 22, 2026

Uploaded by RizkyPratama_92