The Paradox of the Valentine Thomas Affair: English Diplomacy, Royal Correspondence and the Elizabethan Succession

In 1598 the Catholic Valentine Thomas was apprehended near Morpeth in northern England. Thomas’s confession accused King James VI of Scotland of encouraging him to murder Queen Elizabeth I of England. Rumours of Thomas’s confession reached Scotland, transforming it into a matter of Anglo-Scottish diplomacy. This article will focus on the English political context as intensive diplomatic exchanges passed between ambassadors and through the royal correspondence in the search for a resolution. The Valentine Thomas affair was a paradox, for while the plot was minor, its connection to the Elizabethan succession debate turned it into a matter of diplomatic importance