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Although Elizabeth was the last of the Tudor monarchs, she was occasionally under threat from dissident factions who sought to depose her and place an alternative monarch (usually, Mary, Queen of Scots), in her place. In 1569, the Duke of Norfolk was imprisoned in the Tower for plotting to marry himself to Mary, Queen of Scots, and thus provide a strong Catholic phalanx within England. A month later, Durham was seized by the Catholic earls of Westmorland and Northumberland, thus giving substance to the idea of Catholic plotting. In September 1571, the Ridolfi plot - to depose Elizabeth, replace her with Mary and restore Catholicism - was revealed; in 1583, the Throckmorton plot (with similar aims but the backing of the King of Spain and the Duke of Guise) was exposed.In 1586, the Babington Plot, which ultimately led to the execution of Mary, was \'discovered\' by Walsingham, only a matter of weeks after the Scots had signed the Treaty of Berwick.
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