Editing Elizabethan era (section)

===Plots, intrigues, and conspiracies===
The Elizabethan Age was also an age of plots and conspiracies, frequently political, and often involving the highest levels of Elizabethan society. High officials in Madrid, Paris, and Rome sought to kill Elizabeth, a Protestant, and replace her with [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], a Catholic. That would be a prelude to the religious recovery of England for Catholicism. In 1570, the [[Ridolfi plot]] was thwarted. In 1584, the [[Throckmorton Plot]] was discovered, after [[Francis Throckmorton]] confessed his involvement in a plot to overthrow the Queen and restore the Catholic Church in England. Another major [[Conspiracy (political)|conspiracy]] was the [[Babington Plot]] – the event which most directly led to Mary's execution, the discovery of which involved a [[double agent]], [[Gilbert Gifford]], acting under the direction of [[Francis Walsingham]], the Queen's highly effective spy master.

The [[Essex Rebellion]] of 1601 has a dramatic element, as just before the uprising, supporters of the [[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex|Earl of Essex]], among them Charles and Joscelyn Percy (younger brothers of the [[Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland|Earl of Northumberland]]), paid for a performance of ''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]'' at the [[Globe Theatre]], apparently to stir public ill will towards the monarchy.<ref name="bate256">{{Cite book |last=Jonathan Bate |title=Soul of the Age |publisher=Penguin |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-670-91482-1 |location=London |pages=256–286 |author-link=Jonathan Bate}}</ref> It was reported at the trial of Essex by [[Lord Chamberlain's Men|Chamberlain's Men]] actor [[Augustine Phillips]], that the conspirators paid the company forty [[shilling]]s "above the ordinary" (i. e., above their usual rate) to stage the play, which the players felt was too old and "out of use" to attract a large audience.<ref name="bate256" />

In the last decades of the reign, Elizabeth gave [[James VI and I|James VI of Scotland]] an [[English subsidy of James VI|annual annuity or subsidy]] which contributed to an "amity" or peace between England and Scotland.<ref>[[Julian Goodare]], ''State and Society in Early Modern Scotland'' (Oxford, 1999), pp. 118–119.</ref> It became clear that [[Succession to Elizabeth I|he would be her successor]]. Plots continued in the new reign. In the [[Bye Plot]] of 1603, two Catholic priests planned to kidnap King James and hold him in the [[Tower of London]] until he agreed to be more tolerant towards Catholics. Most dramatic was the 1605 [[Gunpowder Plot]] to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament. It was discovered in time with eight conspirators executed, including [[Guy Fawkes]], who became the iconic evil traitor in English lore.<ref>J. A. Sharpe (2005) ''Remember, Remember: A Cultural History of Guy Fawkes Day'', Harvard University Press {{ISBN|0674019350}}</ref>