How high was the Catholic threat during Elizabeth I's reign?

The Catholic threat during Elizabeth's reign can be defined as ever - changing. Throughout Elizabeth's reign the extent to which the Catholic's threatened Elizabeth and her rule continued to fluctuate. We also must consider the idea that this threat can be put into two different categories, the threat can be both to her life and her authority, in which Catholics tried to undermine her rule and the power of her 1559 religious settlement.At the beginning of her reign the threat was very low. This is hugely down to the foreign situation, in which Catholic countries could not afford to impose pressure on England or Elizabeth to be Catholic out of fear of England forming alliances with countries involved in the Hapsburg - Valois wars. However, the threat hugely increased in 1568 upon the arrival of Mary Queen of Scots into England. This arrival gave Catholics within England a figure head for the Catholic resistance and sparked an influx of plots against Elizabeth with the aim of removing Elizabeth from the throne and replacing her with Mary. These plots included the Ridolfi plot of 1571, the Throckmorton plot of 1583 and the Babington plot of 1586. On top of this there was a series of other threats, including the issuing of the Papal Bull in 1570 by the Pope, which excommunicated Elizabeth, this was then furthered in 1580 when the Pope issued a statement allowing Catholics to murder Elizabeth, stating that anyone who did would not only be forgiven by God, but also 'gain merit' in doing so. We must also consider the Spanish Armada of 1588, in which Elizabeth only defeated it out of pure luck in which a storm caused Spanish ships to retreat, had this not happened a Spanish Catholic invasion was extremely probably. All of these things were threats to Elizabeth's lives, but there were also a series of events that were a threat to Elizabeths authority, for example in the early 1580's there were a group of Catholic priests training what were known as Seminary and Jesuit priests abroad and sending them into England with the aim of keeping Catholicism alive within England. This was a threat against Elizabeth's idea of 'outward conformity' in which she wanted people within England to conform to her religious settlement, which these priests did not do. However, whilst the threat in the middle years of her reign was extremely high, to both her life and authority, this largely diminished in the later years. After the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, the threat decreased hugely for a number of reasons. Elizabeth's reign was extremely long and by the later years it was clear that outward conformity was easier and most people in England chose to conform as it was a lot simpler than resisting. Also, upon the death of Mary Queen of Scots, there was a lack of figurehead of the Catholic resistance, diminishing plots and rebellions against Elizabeth. In addition, a lot of Catholics were ran under ground, harsh rules were put on Jesuits and Seminary priests, which eventually pushed them into hiding, which again hugely diminished the threat against Elizabeth's authority. It therefore can be said that whilst the Catholic threat was high during the middle years of her reign, Elizabeth dealt with it well, issuing laws and using the sources she had, such as one of her advisors Walsingham working around the country helping to diminish the threat. She was also able to defeat the Spanish Armada and prevent a Catholic invasion within England and rid herself of her enemies such as Mary Queen of Scots. So it must be said that the Catholic threat fluctuated throughout her period of 1558 to 1603 with it being extremely high in the middle years of her reign, however by the later years it had largely diminished and Elizabeth removed it.