Elizabeth I of England Plot of 1586, Elizabeth's spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham and the royal council keenly assembled a case against her. At first, Elizabeth resisted calls for Mary's death. By late 1586, she had been persuaded to sanction her trial and execution on the evidence of letters written during the Babington Plot. Elizabeth's proclamation of the sentence announced that "the said Mary, pretending title to the same Crown, had compassed and imagined within the same realm divers things tending to the hurt, death and destruction of our royal person." On 8 February 1587, Mary was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire. After Mary's execution,
Mary, Queen of Scots (1971 film) possess identifiable intelligence, [the film] is not as difficult to sit through as some bad movies I can think of. It's just solemn, well-groomed and dumb." Roger Ebert gave the film three stars and lauded the interpretation of Redgrave and Jackson stating, "Vanessa Redgrave is a tall, straight-backed, finely spirited Mary, and Glenda Jackson makes a perfectly shrewish, wise Elizabeth." "Mary, Queen of Scots" was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Vanessa Redgrave), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Terence Marsh, Robert Cartwright, Peter Howitt), Best Costume Design (Margaret Furse), Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, (John Barry),