Edward Habington, Abington, or Abingdon (1553?–1586), was one of the conspirators in the

Babington Plot The Babington Plot was a plan in 1586 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestantism, Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, her Catholic Church, Catholic cousin, on the English throne. It led to Mary's execution, a result of a letter s ...

. Habington, born about 1553, was the eldest son of John Habington of Hindlip, Worcestershire, by his wife Catherine, daughter of John Wykes. Thomas Habington was a younger brother. His father held the office of under-treasurer or ' cofferer' to

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

. Edward Habington was educated at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, where he took his bachelor's degree in 1574. On leaving the university he spent much time at court. He there made the acquaintance of

Anthony Babington Anthony Babington (24 October 156120 September 1586) was an English gentleman convicted of plotting the assassination of Elizabeth I of England and conspiring with the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, for which he was hanged, drawn and quartered ...

, a Catholic courtier, who early in 1586 was maturing, at the instigation of a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, a plan for a general rising of the Catholics which should accomplish the murder of the queen and the liberation of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

, at that time imprisoned at Chartley. Thomas Morgan sent Habington an "alphabet" or cipher key to write to Mary Stuart. Habington not only joined Babington's conspiracy with other young frequenters of the court, but was named one of the six conspirators charged with the contemplated murder of Elizabeth. In July 1586 the plot was discovered by

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her " spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wa ...

's spies. Habington, found at the end of August in hiding near the residence of his family in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, was taken to the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. Brought with six others to trial on 15 September, he resolutely denied his guilt, and claimed to be confronted with two witnesses to his complicity, according to

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

's statute regulating trials for treason. But on the confession of other prisoners, and on the fragments of a confession written and subsequently torn up by himself while in prison, he was found guilty and condemned to death. On 20 September 1586 he was

hanged and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered was a method of torturous capital punishment used principally to execute men convicted of high treason in medieval and early modern Britain and Ireland. The convicted traitor was fastened by the feet to a h ...

in St. Giles's Fields. In a speech from the scaffold he vehemently maintained his innocence. According to

Raphael Holinshed Raphael Holinshed (; before 24 April 1582) was an English chronicler, who was most famous for his work on ''The Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande'', commonly known as ''Holinshed's Chronicles''. It was the "first complete printed h ...

, Edward Habington was the last of the first group of seven convicted conspirators to be executed. He made a defiant speech declaring a forthcoming "effusion of blood in England".Raphael Holinshed
''The Chronicles of England'' (London, 1587), pp. 1573–1574
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Habington, Edward Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford 1550s births 1586 deaths People executed under Elizabeth I by hanging, drawing and quartering People executed under the Tudors for treason against England 16th-century executions by England Executed people from Worcestershire Babington Plot

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...