Like James Bond, only without the cars and toys
This all took place near the end of his career in government, but he held other positions, including member of Parliament, diplomat and ... spy. Now if you look at the English historical websites, you won't see that listed as a formal job description. Instead, you will see that he worked as an agent for 1st Lord Burghley, aka Sir William Cecil, whom we have encountered before, on whose behalf he traveled to a variety of European destinations over several years. He developed relationships with a variety of folks who could supply him with information about their countries of residence, information he forwarded on to Cecil.
Now, of course you could argue that he may have acting in a business capacity and simply provided information useful in business dealings. No doubt that would be useful, but you need to know that Cecil, Queen Elizabeth I's chief advisor, and Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's secretary, are credited with forming one of England's first intelligence networks in an effort to keep her safe from those who plotted to overthrow her. Given the length of her reign, they must have done a pretty good job.
I should mention Wade became secretary to Walsingham after his time with Cecil.
Wade earned the trust of his superiors and was entrusted with a number of diplomatic missions, including one in which he traveled to meet with Mary, Queen of Scots, to work out deal between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. He would later have a part in something called the Babington Plot, which cost Mary her life and is the subject of today's post.
Catholics thought Mary, a Tudor descendant, should also be Queen of England, and over the years plotted to replace Elizabeth with Mary. Many of Elizabeth's allies believed Mary was directly involved in the plots but could not prove it.
John Ballard, a Jesuit priest recruited Anthony Babington, a Catholic who refused to submit to the Church of England, to join yet another plot to depose the queen. The plan was to join leaders in France and Spain in supporting a Spanish invasion of England that would remove Elizabeth from the throne and install Mary. Babington's job was to drum up and organize Catholic support in England.
Walsingham, meanwhile, had discovered the plot through his network of informants and had turned some of the plotters into double agents. He probably could have stopped the insurrection but wanted evidence that Mary was involved, providing the evidence to bring about her final demise.
Now by this juncture, Mary had made the mistake of turning to her cousin for protection from forces aligned against her in Scotland. Elizabeth allowed her safe passage to England and then tossed her into prison. Elizabeth would later issue a decree forbidding any communications with Mary. But Walsingham carefully crafted a channel through which communications could still take place.
All correspondence was intercepted, decoded when necessary, resealed and sent on its way. Babington would pen the fateful letter that would prove to be Mary's downfall, telling he had recruited six men from among the followers he'd raised to execute Elizabeth. Mary wrote a long response, that she would later try to repudiate, in which she expressed unreserved support for the broader plan of invasion and the specific attempt to assassinate the queen. Before her reply was relayed to Babington, one of Walsingham's men forged an addition requesting the names of the six men.
Ballard was captured and tortured to obtain a confession. He implicated Babington in his confession, and the letter from Mary led to Babington's name being associated with the matter instead of Ballard. Other conspirators were rounded up and tried in groups for treason and conspiracy against the crown. They were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
I could not find out what Wade's full involvement might have been, but he did arrest Mary's secretaries, who were later charged with treason, and seized her papers in their possession, which he carried back to London. Mary was charged with treason, tried without being allowed to present a defense and sentenced to death. Elizabeth had to approve the sentence and initially stalled because she was reluctant to execute a fellow monarch. But she relented and Mary was beheaded.
The Spanish did attempt to invade in 1588 and suffered a dramatic defeat by the English Navy, a little affair noted in the history books as the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Wade would also be involved in another famous attempt to dethrone Elizabeth, this one involving her personal physician, which we'll look at next time.
Image: Sir William Waad (Wade), public domain.
Comments
Post a Comment