She had already lost one throne and spent nearly two decades a prisoner in England, but in October 1586 Mary, Queen of Scots, was brought before a tribunal of English noblemen at Fotheringhay Castle, accused of plotting to assassinate her own cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. Letters allegedly written in cipher, part of what became known as the Babington Plot, were produced as evidence that she had approved a plan to murder Elizabeth and seize the English crown for herself.
Mary denied any part in the conspiracy and refused at first to recognise the court’s authority over an anointed queen. The trial proceeded regardless, and the verdict that followed would send her to the executioner’s block the following year.
