The Main Plot was an alleged conspiracy of July 1603 by English courtiers, to remove King James I from the English throne, replacing him with his cousin Arabella (or Arbella) Stuart. The plot was supposedly led by Henry Brooke, Lord Cobham, and funded by Spain. In a state trial, the defendants accused of involvement in the Main Plot were tried along with those of the Bye Plot.
In the version of the plot presented at trial, Cobham was negotiating with the Count of Aremberg to contact the Spanish court for a very large sum of money (approximately one-hundred and sixty thousand pounds). He was to travel to Brussels, then to Spain, collect the money, and go back to England via Jersey, where Sir Walter Raleigh was governor. Raleigh and Cobham were then to divide up the money and decide how best to spend it in furtherance of sedition.
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