Babington, Anthony (1561–1586)

English traitor. He was the chief promoter of a plot to assassinate Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary Queen of Scots. The plot was discovered by the intelligence chief Francis Walsingham, and Babington was arrested, tried, and executed. The discovery of the plot also led to Mary's own execution.

Babington was the son of Henry Babington and Mary, daughter of Lord Darcy, and was a fanatical Catholic. As page to the Earl of Shrewsbury, who was jailer to Mary Queen of Scots, he became strongly attached to her and her cause.