Tunstall, E.2025-07-182025-07-182021Parergon: Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 2021; 38(1):65-870313-62211832-8334https://hdl.handle.net/2440/146143In 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.en© 2021 Elizabeth TunstallCatholic Valentine Thomas; Elizabethan; 1598; Queen Elizabeth I of England; murder plot; English political contex; succession; royalityJournal article10.1353/pgn.2021.00042024-10-04698195Tunstall, E. [0000-0003-2014-0679]