Mary Queen of Scots was the single most dangerous threat to Elizabeth's regime — the focal point through which all Catholic plots, foreign invasions, and domestic rebellions converged.

23:41focus and that is Mary Queen of Scots Mary Stewart. And he sums it up. The exalting of the queen of Scots shall please the pope, the two monarchies of France and Spain, and all the papists in Christrysendom, England and Scotland. So there are enemies everywhere. And so listeners may be wondering, well, you know, is he right about this? Is there actually a vast conspiracy that embraces Catholics in England and Scotland, the

24:09kind of enemy within you might want to call, but also Philip II of Spain, the King of France and the Pope? And if there is a conspiracy, is its aim to topple Queen Elizabeth? And are the conspirators looking to replace Elizabeth with Mary, Queen of Scots? So, is Mary Stewart really the danger that Ceil thinks that she is? Let's start with England. England itself. I mean, you said, oh, you know,

24:36people think of it as maples and all of this kind of thing, Elizabeth and England. But actually, when Ceil looks, if if you can picture him kind of looking at his map or at his dashboard or something, the lights are flashing red. There are enemies everywhere on the map. And there's good reason for that because England has been a very troubled place in 1569. Well, more specifically

24:54that there's been this terrifying warning that no one can um ignore, which is the fact that um a a servant woman in Leicester had given birth to a cat and everyone has agreed that God well here we go. >> Yeah, >> this is very bad. And um it sure enough on the 6th of September 1569, a massive crisis does break out and it's incredibly dangerous because it embroils