Since setting foot on a windswept Cumbrian beach in 1568, Mary, Queen of Scots had long been a thorn in Elizabeth’s side.

Despite this, Elizabeth avoided having to deal with her cousin until 1587 when she was finally executed for treason.

The damning evidence resulting from Walsingham’s code breakers during the Babington Plot was perhaps the final straw.

But what else led to the execution?

In this enquiry your students classify the causes in a number of ways before using their understanding to improve on the classic, if rather limited, Ladybird account of 1958.

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