The failed conspiracy's plan was for an invasion of England by French forces under the command of Henry, Duke of Guise, financed by Philip II of Spain.
England's old enemy, France, was in the midst of its Religious Wars, which saw the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in the year in which William was born.
[1] William, a Protestant, applied himself vigorously to England's interests, taking part in the 1596 capture of Cadiz (Gādēs).
[2] He never earned the favour of Queen Elizabeth I, but the family title and lands were restored upon him by her Scottish heir King James I in 1604.
That colony fared badly in its first years, and a fleet sent to relieve it in 1609 was broken up by a hurricane, with the Company's flagship, the Sea Venture, lost on the reefs of Bermuda.