John Savage

John Savage (died 20 September 1586) was an English Catholic, who was one of the conspirators executed for his involvement in the Babington Plot, a plot in 1586 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, a Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, on the English throne. A former soldier, Savage was to have been the man who would personally assassinate Elizabeth. Background and involvement in the Babington plot Savage was likely a member of the Derbyshire branch of the Savage family, a wealthy Catholic family. An ardent Roman Catholic, he joined the army of Alexander Farnese, governor of the Spanish Netherlands and captain-general of the Army of Flanders (later Duke of Parma) and saw active service in the Low Countries. On his return to England he passed through Rheims and encountered Dr. William Gifford, a fellow Catholic who persuaded him that the assassination of Queen Elizabeth was the only solution to the injustices faced by the Catholics of England. Savage arrived in London in early 1586 and met John Ballard in the city in March of that year and volunteered to join the conspiracy that Ballard and Anthony Babington had begun to formulate which aimed to carry out the murder of Queen Elizabeth, the release of Mary, Queen of Scots from prison and then to put Mary on the throne with foreign support. His service was 'eagerly accepted' by Babington. Savage was the only member of Babington's plot who was not previously attached to the royal court, however the Savage family of Derbyshire were seemingy distantly connected with Babington's family, who were also from Derbyshire. In 1489 John Babington and Ralph Savage were jointly granted a license to found a chantry at North Wynfield, Derbyshire. At a meeting of the conspirators at St Giles in the Fields in April, Savage was one of the six who were nominated to carry out assassination of the queen. The conspiracy had been infiltrated from almost the beginning and some of the group were acting as double agents for Elizabeth's spy master Sir Francis Walsingham, most notably Gilbert Gifford, cousin of Dr William Gifford, who had initially communicated with Savage. This infiltration led to the conspiracy becoming compromised and arrests being carried out. Following the arrest of Ballard, Babington went to Savage to inform of this news. Savage told Babington that he would go and immediately carry out the assassination of Queen Elizabeth.