York PhD discovers important historical manuscript

The manuscript (DRO, MS D587), written by Sir Francis Walsingham’s agent Maliverey Catilyn, describes the treason trials which took place in the wake of the Babington Plot (1586). A group of conspirators planned to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, and replace her on the throne with her cousin, the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots. 

 

The manuscript offers an account of the trials substantively different from the only other known account. For instance, Catilyn's narrative suggests that Walsingham's spy Gilbert Gifford was far more active in organizing the assassination plot against Elizabeth I than scholars have recognized. Jon is presently writing an article which situates this discovery in the context of other polemical works written in response to the Babington Plot.

Jon McGovern recently completed his PhD, which investigates Anti-Sedition Literature in England 1536-1603.