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==Plot==
The Babington plot was related to several separate plans:
*solicitation of a Spanish invasion of England with the purpose of deposing the Protestant Queen Elizabeth and replacing her with the Catholic Queen Mary;
*a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth.
*Mary would be freed by the plotters, perhaps while riding in open country near [[Chartley Castle|Chartley]].<ref>John M. Gilbert, ''Elite Hunting Culture and Mary, Queen of Scots'' (Boydell, 2024), p. 163.</ref>

At the behest of Mary's French supporters, [[John Ballard (Jesuit)|John Ballard]], a [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] priest and agent of the Roman Church, went to England on various occasions in 1585 to secure promises of aid from the northern Catholic gentry on behalf of Mary. In March 1586, he met with [[John Savage (died 1586)|John Savage]], an ex-soldier who was involved in a separate plot against Elizabeth and who had sworn an oath to assassinate the queen. He was resolved in this plot after consulting with three friends: Dr. William Gifford, [[Christopher Hodgson (priest)|Christopher Hodgson]] and Gilbert Gifford. Gilbert Gifford had been arrested by Walsingham and agreed to be a double agent. Gifford was already in Walsingham's employ by the time Savage was going ahead with the plot, according to Conyers Read.<ref name=conyersread3>{{cite book |last=Read|first=Conyers|title=Mr Secretary Walsingham and the Policy of Queen Elizabeth, Vol. III|publisher=[[Clarendon Press]]|year=1925|pages=27–28 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2281.2006.00396.x}}</ref> Later that same year, Gifford reported to Charles Paget and the Spanish diplomat Don [[Bernardino de Mendoza]], and told them that English Catholics were prepared to mount an insurrection against Elizabeth, provided that they would be assured of foreign support. While it was uncertain whether Ballard's report of the extent of Catholic opposition was accurate, what was certain is that he was able to secure assurances that support would be forthcoming. He then returned to England, where he persuaded a member of the Catholic gentry, Anthony Babington, to lead and organise the English Catholics against Elizabeth. Ballard informed Babington about the plans that had been so far proposed. Babington's later confession made it clear that Ballard was sure of the support of the [[Catholic League (French)|Catholic League]]:

{{quote|He told me he was retorned from Fraunce uppon this occasion. Being with Mendoza at Paris, he was informed that in regarde of the iniuries don by our state unto the greatest Christian princes, by the nourishinge of sedition and divisions in their provinces, by withholding violently the lawful possessions of some, by invasion of the Indies and by piracy, robbing the treasure and the wealthe of others, and sondry intolerable wronges for so great and mighty princes to indure, it was resolved by the Catholique league to seeke redresse and satisfaction, which they had vowed to performe this sommer without farther delay, havinge in readiness suche forces and all warlike preparations as the like was never scene in these partes of Christendome ... The Pope was chief disposer, the most Christian king and the king Catholic with all other princes of the league concurred as instruments for the righting of these wronges, and reformation of religion. The conductors of this enterprise for the French nation, the [[Henry I, Duke of Guise|D. of Guise]], or his brother the [[Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne|D. de Main]]; for the Italian and Hispanishe forces, the P. of Parma; the whole number about 60,000.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pollen|first= John Hungerford|title=Publications of the Scottish Historical Society Third Series, Volume III: Mary Queen of Scots and the Babington Plot |publisher=T & A Constable Ltd.|year=1922|pages=53–54}}</ref>}}

Despite this assurance of this foreign support, Babington was hesitant, as he thought that no foreign invasion would succeed for as long as Elizabeth remained, to which Ballard answered that the plans of John Savage would take care of that. After a lengthy discussion with friends and soon-to-be fellow conspirators, Babington consented to join and to lead the conspiracy.<ref>Pollen, p. 54.</ref>

Unfortunately for the conspirators, Walsingham was certainly aware of some of the aspects of the plot, based on reports by his spies, most notably Gilbert Gifford, who kept tabs on all the major participants. While he could have shut down some part of the plot and arrested some of those involved within reach, he still lacked any piece of evidence that would prove Queen Mary's active participation in the plot and he feared to commit any mistake which might cost Elizabeth her life.

===Infiltration===

[[File:Mary-cipher-code.jpg|thumb|right|The cipher code of Mary, Queen of Scots]]
After the [[Throckmorton Plot]], Queen Elizabeth had issued a decree in July 1584, which prevented all communication to and from Mary. However, Walsingham and Cecil realised that that decree also impaired their ability to entrap Mary. They needed evidence for which she could be executed based on their Bond of Association tenets. Thus Walsingham established a new line of communication, one which he could carefully control without incurring any suspicion from Mary. Gifford approached the French ambassador to England, [[Guillaume de l'Aubespine de Châteauneuf|Guillaume de l'Aubespine]], Baron de Châteauneuf-sur-Cher, and described the new correspondence arrangement that had been designed by Walsingham. Gifford and jailer Paulet had arranged for a local brewer to facilitate the movement of messages between Queen Mary and her supporters by placing them in a watertight box inside a beer barrel.<ref>[[Robert Hutchinson (historian)|Robert Hutchinson]], ''Elizabeth's Spymaster: Francis Walsingham and the Secret War that saved England'' (London: Phoenix, 2007), p. 121.</ref><ref>[[John Hosack]], ''Mary, Queen of Scots, and her Accusers'', 2 (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1874), p. 337.</ref> [[Thomas Phelippes]], a cipher and language expert in Walsingham's employ, was then quartered at Chartley Hall to receive the messages, decode them and send them to Walsingham. Gifford submitted a code table (supplied by Walsingham) to Chateauneuf and requested the first message be sent to Mary.<ref>John Hosack, ''Mary, Queen of Scots, and her Accusers'', 2 (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1874), p. 338.</ref>

All subsequent messages to Mary would be sent via diplomatic packets to Chateauneuf, who then passed them on to Gifford. Gifford would pass them on to Walsingham, who would confide them to Phelippes. The cipher used was a [[Substitution cipher#Nomenclator|nomenclator cipher]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dooley |first1=John F. |title=A Brief History of Cryptology and Cryptographic Algorithms |date=2013 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-319-01628-3 |page=21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d2O4BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |language=en}}</ref> Phelippes would decode and make a copy of the letter. The letter was then resealed and given back to Gifford, who would pass it on to the brewer. The brewer would then smuggle the letter to Mary. If Mary sent a letter to her supporters, it would go through the reverse process. In short order, every message coming to and from Chartley was intercepted and read by Walsingham.<ref>Conyers Read, ''Mr Secretary Walsingham and the policy of Queen Elizabeth'', vol. 3 (Archon, 1967), p. 10.</ref>