The Protestant Reformation, which spread so rapidly through much of Europe including England, brought on a powerful reaction, sometimes called the ‘Counter-Reformation’, by the Roman Catholic Church. This consisted of moral reform, clearer statements of Catholic doctrines, better training of the clergy and a vigorous attempt to stem the tide of Protestantism. England felt the effect of this in several ways. The new, highly disciplined order of Jesuits infiltrated the British Isles and won back many lapsed Catholics. Elizabeth was excommunicated by the pope in 1570, and many plots were hatched to replace her with her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. Elizabeth reacted by a series of severe laws against Roman. Catholics labelling them traitors. A secret plan was discovered, called the Ridolfi Plot’, in which Philip of Spain was to invade England, Elizabeth was to be deposed and replaced by Mary, Queen of Scots, and the latter was to marry the Catholic Duke of Norfolk. For this the duke, highest peer in the land, was beheaded in the Tower in 1572.
Yet another major Catholic intrigue, called ‘Babington’s Plot’, was uncovered in 1586, also involving Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII’s sister, had previously been married to the king of France before her marriage to the king of Scotland, and she was an ardent Catholic. She returned to Scotland at a time when the Protestant movement was gaining rapidly under the leadership of the reformer John Knox. In time Mary was driven from the throne because of a series of disgraceful romantic adventures, and her infant son James was named king. Spirited about from place to place in England, she was always a threat to Elizabeth, yet Elizabeth was extremely reluctant to act against her.
The Babington Plot finally forced her hand, and Mary was beheaded in 1587. Even then Elizabeth blamed the decision on her council. The execution of Mary was the signal to Philip of Spain that an invasion of England for the Roman Catholic cause was long overdue. In July of 1588 the great ‘Invincible Armada’ of 150 galleons set sail and was met in the Channel by the lighter and more manoeuvrable English men-of-war under brave sea captains like Drake and Hawkins. The combination of English fighting skill and bad weather took its toll of two-thirds of the Spanish fleet. So devastating was this defeat and subsequent English naval attacks over the next ten years that all hope vanished of restoring England to the pope’s domains during Elizabeth’s reign.