Elizabeth signed Mary's death warrant under pressure from fabricated threats, but then attempted to have Mary quietly murdered without formal execution—though her jailer Paulet refused on moral and legal grounds.

49:46sign the death warrant, Burghley and Walsingham are busy scheming to try and force her hand. And so first they get Parliament to petition her for Mary's execution, and Elizabeth treats this with kind of icy contempt. And in the wake of this, Burghley then thinks, "Well, I'm going to have to um I'm going to have to unleash the dirty tricks here." And so, he reveals to Elizabeth the

50:06existence of yet another plot to assassinate her. And in fact, this plot is an old one. Um it had never gone anywhere. It had been foiled the year before, but Burghley had been kind of keeping it in reserve for just such an eventuality. And even as he presents Elizabeth with the news of this supposed plot against her, he also fabricates a rumor that Spanish troops have landed in

50:28Wales. And he goes there and says, "Ah, it's terrible news, you know, they're marching on Cardiff or whatever. You should double your bodyguard because you are in mortal danger." And this does sufficiently alarm Elizabeth that at last, on the 1st of February, 1587, she takes the fateful step, and she does sign the warrant for Mary's execution. But even now, Elizabeth remain remains [laughter] Elizabeth. She's signed She's

50:55signed this death warrant, but she doesn't want it used. She is still hoping that someone will get in there and kind of remove Mary, and it won't be in Elizabeth's name. And to this end, she has Walsingham, who is sick in bed at this time. Walsingham is often prostrated by illness. She has Walsingham write a letter to to Paulet, who is still serving as Mary's jailer. He's moved with her to Fotheringhay.

51:21Walsingham doesn't really doesn't want to do this, but he has no choice cuz Elizabeth has directly ordered him. So, Walsingham writes to Paulet that that Elizabeth is very disappointed that he is yet to live up to the vow that he had made when he signed the bond of association. And why is it, Elizabeth demands to know, that he has not yet, and I quote, "found out some way to

51:41shorten the life of that queen" in other words, Mary, "do it." And Paulet, to do him credit, and I think this kind of shed light on the question you were asking, why don't they just bump her off? Paulet is appalled, and he replies to the Queen, "God forbid that I should make so foul a shipwreck of my conscience, or leave so great a blot to my poor posterity to shed blood without

52:03law or warrant." >> Yeah. >> Elizabeth is contemptuous. She dismisses Paulet as dainty. And she does not mean it as a compliment. I mean, Elizabeth is >> [laughter] >> is a very a very hard woman. But, you know, Paulet is a hard man, but he you know, his his conscience, his faith doesn't permit him to just go around bumping people off without the due course of law. And I think that that

52:25that that's the explanation for why Puritans and Protestants, they think it has to be done, you know, it has it has to be done with God's approval, basically. >> But, uh, Burghley now has the death warrant, and, um, he This is the weapon he needs, and even though Elizabeth has said, "Don't yet use it," he just thinks, "Come on, let's crack on." And so, he he has a little