The Bond of Association was a document created in 1584 by Francis Walsingham

Francis Walsingham

Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...

 and William Cecil

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...

, Lord Burghley after the failure of the Throckmorton Plot

Throckmorton Plot

The Throckmorton Plot was an attempt by English Roman Catholics in 1583 to murder Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with her second cousin Mary, Queen of Scots...

 in 1583.

Contents

The document obliged all signatories to execute any person that:

• attempted to usurp the throne
• successfully usurped the throne
• made an attempt on Elizabeth's life
• successfully assassinated Elizabeth

In the latter case, it also made it obligatory for the signatories to hunt down the killer

Implications

The Bond of Association was a key legal precedent for the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587. Walsingham discovered alleged evidence that Mary, in a letter to Anthony Babington

Anthony Babington

Anthony Babington was convicted of plotting the assassination of Elizabeth I of England and conspiring with the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots...

, had given her approval to a plot to assassinate Elizabeth and by Right of Succession take English throne. Ironically, Mary herself was a signatory of the Bond.