Editing Mary, Queen of Scots (section)

=== Plots ===

[[File:Mary, Queen of Scots - A catte - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|"A•CATTE". Embroidery done by Mary in captivity (now in the [[Royal Collection]])<ref>{{Royal Collection|28224|A catte|Mary, Queen of Scots}}</ref><ref>[[Oxburgh Hangings|Embroideries]] by Mary are also kept in the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] ([https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O137608/the-marian-hanging-hanging-mary-queen-of/ Marian Hangings], [https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?listing_type=&offset=0&limit=15&narrow=&extrasearch=&q=Oxburgh+Hangings&commit=Search&quality=0&objectnamesearch=&placesearch=&after=&after-adbc=AD&before=&before-adbc=AD&namesearch=&materialsearch=&mnsearch=&locationsearch= Oxburgh Hangings]) and [[Hardwick Hall]].</ref>]]

On 26 January 1569, Mary was moved to [[Tutbury Castle]]<ref>{{Harvnb|Weir|2008|p=484}}</ref> and placed in the custody of the [[George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury|Earl of Shrewsbury]] and his formidable wife [[Bess of Hardwick]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|1994|pp=410–411}}; {{Harvnb|Guy|2004|p=441}}; {{Harvnb|Wormald|1988|p=184}}</ref> Elizabeth considered Mary's designs on the English throne to be a serious threat and so confined her to Shrewsbury's properties, including Tutbury, [[Sheffield Castle]], [[Sheffield Manor Lodge]], [[Wingfield Manor]], and [[Chatsworth House]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|p=442}}; {{Harvnb|Weir|2008|p=484}}</ref> all located in the interior of England, halfway between Scotland and London and distant from the sea.<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|pp=440–441}}</ref>

Mary was permitted her own domestic staff, which never numbered fewer than 16.<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|p=438}}</ref> She needed 30 carts to transport her belongings from house to house.<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|p=439}}</ref> Her chambers were decorated with fine tapestries and carpets, as well as her [[cloth of state]] on which she had the French phrase, ''En ma fin est mon commencement'' ("In my end lies my beginning"), embroidered.<ref>It had been her mother's motto ({{Harvnb|Guy|2004|pp=443–444}}).</ref> Her bed linen was changed daily,<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|p=443}}</ref> and her own chefs prepared meals with a choice of 32 dishes served on silver plates.<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|pp=444–445}}</ref> She was occasionally allowed outside under strict supervision,<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|pp=453–454}}</ref> spent seven summers at the spa town of [[Buxton]], and spent much of her time doing embroidery.<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|pp=448–450, 518}}</ref> Her health declined, perhaps through [[porphyria]] or lack of exercise. By the 1580s, she had severe [[rheumatism]] in her limbs, rendering her lame.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|1994|pp=443–446, 511}}; {{Harvnb|Guy|2004|pp=447, 458}}</ref>

In May 1569, Elizabeth attempted to mediate the restoration of Mary in return for guarantees of the Protestant religion, but a convention held at [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] rejected the deal overwhelmingly.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wormald|1988|p=179}}</ref> Norfolk continued to scheme for a marriage with Mary, and Elizabeth imprisoned him in the [[Tower of London]] between October 1569 and August 1570.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|1994|pp=415–424}}; {{Harvnb|Weir|2008|p=487}}</ref> Early the following year, Moray was assassinated. His death occurred soon after an unsuccessful [[Rising of the North|rebellion in the North of England]], led by Catholic earls, which persuaded Elizabeth that Mary was a threat. English troops then intervened in the Scottish civil war, consolidating the power of the anti-Marian forces.<ref>{{Harvnb|Weir|2008|p=496}}; {{Harvnb|Wormald|1988|p=180}}</ref> Elizabeth's [[Secretary of State (England)|principal secretary]] [[William Cecil, Lord Burghley]], and [[Sir Francis Walsingham]] watched Mary carefully with the aid of spies placed in her household.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|1994|p=469}}; {{Harvnb|Guy|2004|p=451}}</ref>

[[File:Mary Queen of Scots by Nicholas Hilliard 1578.jpg|thumb|Mary in captivity, by [[Nicholas Hilliard]], ''c.'' 1578]]

In 1571, Cecil and Walsingham (at that time England's ambassador to France) uncovered the [[Ridolfi Plot]], a plan to replace Elizabeth with Mary with the help of Spanish troops and the Duke of Norfolk. Norfolk was executed and the English Parliament introduced a bill barring Mary from the throne, to which Elizabeth refused to give royal assent.<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|pp=464–470}}; {{Harvnb|Weir|2008|pp=492–494}}; {{Harvnb|Wormald|1988|p=183}}</ref> To discredit Mary, the casket letters were published in London.<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|p=467}}; {{Harvnb|Weir|2008|p=493}}; {{Harvnb|Wormald|1988|p=184}}</ref> Plots centred on Mary continued. [[Pope Gregory XIII]] endorsed one plan in the latter half of the 1570s to marry her to the governor of the [[Low Countries]] and illegitimate half-brother of [[Philip II of Spain]], [[John of Austria]], who was supposed to organise the invasion of England from the [[Spanish Netherlands]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|1994|p=446}}</ref>

Mary sent letters in cipher to the French ambassador, [[Michel de Castelnau]], scores of which were discovered and decrypted in 2022–2023.<ref>{{Harvnb|Scott|2024|p=29}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/01611194.2022.2160677 |title=Deciphering Mary Stuart's lost letters from 1578-1584 |year=2023 |last1=Lasry |first1=George |last2=Biermann |first2=Norbert |last3=Tomokiyo |first3=Satoshi |journal=Cryptologia |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=101–202 |s2cid=256720092 |doi-access=free|issn=0161-1194 }}</ref> After the [[Throckmorton Plot]] of 1583, Walsingham (now the queen's principal secretary) introduced the [[Bond of Association]] and the [[Safety of the Queen, etc. Act 1584|Act for the Queen's Safety]], which sanctioned the killing of anyone who plotted against Elizabeth and aimed to prevent a putative successor from profiting from her murder.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|1994|p=473}}; {{Harvnb|Guy|2004|pp=474–476}}; {{Harvnb|Weir|2008|p=506}}</ref>

In 1584, Mary proposed an "[[Association of Mary, Queen of Scots, and James VI|association]]" with her son, James. She announced that she was ready to stay in England, to renounce the Pope's bull of excommunication, and to retire, abandoning her pretensions to the English Crown. She also offered to join an offensive league against France. For Scotland, she proposed a general amnesty, agreed that James should marry with Elizabeth's knowledge, and accepted that there should be no change in religion. Her only condition was the immediate alleviation of the conditions of her captivity. James went along with the idea for a while, but eventually rejected it and signed an alliance treaty with Elizabeth, abandoning his mother.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|1994|pp=458–462}}</ref> Elizabeth also rejected the association because she did not trust Mary to cease plotting against her during the negotiations.<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|pp=458–462}}</ref>

In February 1585, [[William Parry (spy)|William Parry]] was convicted of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth, without Mary's knowledge, although her agent [[Thomas Morgan (of Llantarnam)|Thomas Morgan]] was implicated.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|1994|p=472}}</ref> In April, Mary was placed in the stricter custody of [[Sir Amias Paulet]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|p=457}}; {{Harvnb|Weir|2008|p=507}}</ref> At Christmas, she was moved to a moated manor house at [[Chartley Castle|Chartley]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|1994|p=479}}</ref>