Editing Ridolfi plot (section)

===Modern criticism===
According to historian Cyril Hamshere, retrospective critics of the conspiracy cited a number of reasons why the Ridolfi Plot would have been doomed to fail even if it had not been discovered prematurely.  For one, the small number of Spanish soldiers (between 6000 and 10,000) would have been absurdly inadequate to the task of overthrowing the English government. Additionally, the vagueness of the invasion point was a logistical shortcoming. The plan was to land at either [[Harwich]] or [[Portsmouth]], but Ridolfi apparently did not know exactly where Harwich was. Also dubious was Ridolfi's reliance on the Duke of Norfolk, who was regarded as a bad leader and was not even a Catholic. This did not make him an ideal co-conspirator, but, according to Hamshere, "his main merit lay in his title: in 1571 he was the only Duke in England".{{sfn|Hamshere|1976|p=32|ps=}}.The weakness of this theory is that it discount the quality of Spanish Tercio  considered among the best troops of their time plus one has only to imagine if the Spanish joined with the [[Northern Rebellion]] this movement happening again ; more than 10000 English Catholics plus 10,000 Spanish elite troops could have proven a deadly combination for Elizabeth Regime .

Norfolk's Protestantism was but one irony of the Ridolfi Plot: Norfolk and Mary, Queen of Scots had each been married three times before their proposed marriage to each other.  Pope Pius was, apparently, willing to grant Mary an annulment of her marriage to her imprisoned husband,{{sfn|Hamshere|1976|p=33|ps=}} but the notion of two thrice wed royals leading England back to Catholicism is somewhat problematic, nonetheless.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roberto Ridolfi {{!}} Renaissance Italy, Papal States, Medici Family {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roberto-Ridolfi |access-date=2024-09-09 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>