BABINGTON, ANTHONY. - Englishman, of a noble and wealthy family, b. at Detwick (Derbyshire) in Oct. 1561, d. in London on 20 Sept. 1586. A Catholic and pious, but prone to religious enthusiasms, he allowed himself to be bewitched by an unfortunate priest, John Bellard, of extremist ideas, who succeeded, taking advantage of his sympathies for Mary Stuart, in placing him at the head of a conspiracy aimed at freeing the imprisoned queen and at doing away with the Protestant Elizabeth, designated as a usurper; and at the same time at quieting his scruples of conscience, which made him waver in the face of a crime.
Among the conspirators, all Catholics, another priest managed to gain entry, Gilbert Gifford, a secret spy of Lord Walsingham, who in turn brought in two more spies. Thus the Secretary of State was informed of every move; he was even able to manipulate the threads so as to ruin both the reckless men and Mary Stuart together. For through the three spies he had a compromising correspondence initiated and facilitated between B. and the prisoner; and when from the letters that passed through his hands he could clearly learn the plot, he gave the order to arrest the conspirators. They attempted to flee, but in vain; the seven principal ones, among them B., were taken, tried as traitors, hanged and quartered.
That deplorable conspiracy, hatched by Catholics and promoted by a priest, brought grave harm to the religion, because, exploited as it was by its adversaries, it stirred up accusations against the General of the Jesuits and the Pope himself, charged with having recommended the killing of Elizabeth; but above all it offered Lord Walsingham the opportunity to proceed at last, amid the excitement aroused among the people, to that act of violence which was the trial and condemnation of Mary Stuart.