Main Plot
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TheMain Plotwas an allegedconspiracyof July 1603 by English courtiers to removeKing James Ifrom the English throne and to replace him with his cousinLady Arbella Stuart.The plot was supposedly led byLord Cobhamand funded by the Spanish government. In a state trial, the defendants accused of involvement in the Main Plot were tried along with those of theBye Plot.It is referred to as the "main" plot, because at the time it was presented as the principal ( "main" ) plot of which the secondary (or "bye" ) plot was a minor component.
In the version of the plot presented at trial, Cobham was negotiating with theCount of Arembergto contact the Spanish court in order to obtain a very large sum of money (approximately £160,000). He was to travel toBrussels,then toSpain,collect the money, and go back toEnglandviaJersey,whereSir Walter Raleighwas governor. Raleigh and Cobham were then to divide up the money and decide how best to spend it in furtherance of sedition.
Investigation[edit]
The plot was discovered during an investigation of the Bye Plot in whichSir George Brooke,the brother of Lord Cobham, was implicated.[1]The effort of examining the evidence gathered from suspects questioned in the far-fetched Bye Plot fell toWilliam Waad.He teased out the "main" or serious plot, as he saw it and involving the highly placed Raleigh, from the rest of the "bye" plot; and presented his findings toSir Robert Ceciland the Privy Council.[2]
Consequences[edit]
Cobham and Raleigh were both imprisoned in theTower of Londonas was SirGriffin Markham.Raleigh was released after thirteen years, but was eventually executed in 1618. The sick Cobham was released in the same year, dying some months later.[citation needed]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^.Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- ^Fiona Bengtsen,Sir William Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower, and the Gunpowder Plot(2005), p. 27;Google Books.
