The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 - History Learning Site Home » Stuart England » The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 Citation: C N Trueman "The Gunpowder Plot of 1605" historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 17 Mar 2015. 16 Aug 2016. In November 1605, the infamous Gunpowder Plot took place in which some Catholics, most famously Guy Fawkes, plotted to blow up James I, the first of the Stuart kings of England. The story is remembered each November 5th when ‘Guys’ are burned in a celebration known as “Bonfire Night”. The story appears to be very simple. Catholics in England had expected James to be more tolerant of them. In fact, he had proved to be the opposite and had ordered all Catholic priests to leave England. This so angered some Catholics that they decided to kill James and put his daughter Elizabeth on the throne ensuring that she was a Catholic.

This led to a plot to kill not only the king of England, James, but also everyone sitting in the Houses of Parliament at the same time as James was there when he opened Parliament on November 5th, 1605. Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators, having rented out a house right by the Houses of Parliament, managed to get 36 barrels of gunpowder into a cellar of the House of Lords. The other conspirators were: John Grant and the man who is said to have organised the whole plot Robert Catesby. The most famous picture of some the conspirators The explosive expert, Guy Fawkes, had been left in the cellars to set off the fuse. He was only caught when a group of guards decided to check the cellars at the last moment. Fawkes was arrested and sent to the Tower of London where he was tortured and eventually gave away the names of the fellow conspirators. Sir William Wade, Lieutenant of the Tower, had orders to use whatever means of torture was required to get information from Fawkes. The order came from James. Of those involved, some were shot as they were chased by the law such as Percy and Catesby.

Others were captured, sent to the Tower and, after a brief trial, eventually hung, drawn and quartered, with Fawkes, in January 1606. The signature of Guy Fawkes on his confession In celebration of his survival, James ordered that the people of England should have a great bonfire in the night on November 5th. This fire was traditionally topped off with an effigy of the pope rather than Guy Fawkes. His place at the top of the fire came in later as did fireworks. The East Sussex county town of Lewes still has the pope alongside Guy Fawkes when it comes to the effigies being burned. But is there more to this plot than just a small number of angry Catholics wanting to make a statement against the king, James? Some believe that the whole plot was a government conspiracy to convince James that Catholics could not be trusted. At the very least, some curious things happened when the story is looked at in detail. What is odd? We do know that James’ chief minister, Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury, hated Catholics and saw them as a constant source of trouble.

Cecil also feared that there was a chance that James would be lenient with them during his reign and this he could not tolerate. That James only expelled priests was not good enough for Cecil. He wanted to remove Catholicism from England as he saw it as a threat. We know that James was terrified of a violent death; his childhood in Scotland had been fraught with danger including being kidnapped as a boy. What better way to get James to severely persecute the Catholics in England than to get him to believe that they had tried to kill him in this very violent manner? The government had a monopoly on gunpowder in this country and it was stored in places like the Tower of London. How did the conspirators get hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder without drawing attention to themselves? Did they get help from the government? How was the gunpowder moved across London from the Tower of London to Westminster (at least two miles distant) without anyone seeing it? The River Thames would not have been used as it could have lead to the gunpowder becoming damp and useless. Thirty six barrels would have been a sizeable quantity to move without causing suspicion.

Why were men who were known to be Catholics allowed to rent out a house so near to the Houses of Parliament? How did they move 36 barrels from that house to the cellar of the Houses of Parliament without anyone noticing along with hay, straw etc? Why, for the first time in history, was there a search of Parliament’s cellars that conveniently found “John Johnson” (as Guy Fawkes called himself) before he lit the fuse? Why was the soldier who killed Catesby and Percy at Holbeech House in the Midlands, given such a large pension for life (10p a day for life) when their arrest and torture was more desirable so that the names of any other conspirators might be found out? Some historians have pointed out these issues and claimed that the plotters were pawns in the hands of Robert Cecil and that he orchestrated the whole affair in his bid to get James to ban Catholics altogether. There are, however, counter-arguments to many of the above points. Gunpowder may have been a government monopoly but just as today, there was a black market for it. The conspirators would have had the money to pay for this and it could have been smuggled in from Catholic France, for example.

The south coast was riddled with smugglers havens. Fawkes could have used his contacts with Spain to acquire it. In many senses, this would not have been a difficult problem. Moving the gunpowder from the Tower to Westminster could have been done over a number of days, barrel by barrel, journey by journey. This would have attracted less attention though it did increase the chance of being caught as more journeys were being made. One theory put forward is that it was stored at a house owned by Catesby in Lambeth and moved barrel by barrel up the Thames at night to Westminster. dangerous and risky but the conspirators were motivated men and it could have happened. The conspirators used false names so hiring out property near to the Houses of Parliament would not have been that difficult. Thomas Percy had contacts in Parliament and these were almost certainly used to get the house there and later the cellar where the gunpowder was actually put. The soldier who shot Percy and Catesby was in a firefight in which he may have been shot and killed himself. Why risk your own life against such desperate people? Was the 10p a day for life merely a generous reward for services to a grateful king?

Also, if Fawkes and company had been set-up by, why did he not say so at his execution when he could have said something? Possibly he was not in a fit enough state to say anything; also who would have believed him as he had been castigated as the evil conspirator to kill the king? It may be that the conspirators simply acted alone and then got caught. The confession of Fawkes does not mention at all any claim that he was a dupe of the government. He himself stated that he was first approached by Thomas Wintour in Europe about the plot in 1604 and that he met the others when he returned to London. The only full confession about the plot from start to finish came from Thomas Wintour. He, too, makes no mention about being set-up etc. Two issues do cloud the story, however. The first is the so-called Monteagle Letter. One of the plotters was a man called Francis Tresham. Lord Monteagle was his cousin. On the evening of October 26th, a mysterious man brought a letter to Monteagle’s home just outside of London.

The letter was a clear warning for Monteagle not to turn up at the Houses of Parliament on the 5th November. In modern English the letter stated that Parliament would receive a terrible blow on that day and that those killed would not see who had done it to them. The letter was addressed to Monteagle but it was read out aloud by his servant. Why? Was Monteagle looking for a witness that he had received this letter? Monteagle went straight to Robert Cecil and informed him of what had happened. Cecil ordered a search of the cellars of Parliament on the night of November 4th. Those guards found Guy Fawkes. A second search the next day, ordered by James I, also found the explosives and Guy who was found to be in possession of matches. he was arrested. The other issue also involves Tresham. Here was an important member of the gang who could know a great deal about other conspirators who were not actually yet caught. Once arrested, he was locked in the Tower of London – England’s most feared and secure prison. Tresham was locked in a cell by himself. He died on December 23rd 1605, and he was found to have been poisoned.

How did he get the poison? Did he knowingly take it? Or did someone want to silence him before he talked? It is possible that Tresham had the poison on him and took it rather than suffer the butchery of being hung, drawn and quartered. If someone else had access to him, and fed him poisoned food or whatever, he would have been a very important person as only the most important would have had access to this valuable prisoner. We may never know the answers to the questions. There are some who support the government conspiracy line – others think it may simply have been an ambitious plan by a small number of Catholics that went very badly wrong for them all. Historical Figures: Guy Fawkes | Historical Figures | History | Yesterday Channel > Historical Figures: Guy Fawkes Historical Figures: Guy Fawkes Every year, millions of Britons gather round bonfires on November 5. We let off fireworks and burn effigies of Guy Fawkes, the Catholic plotter who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. But who was Guy Fawkes? And why was he prepared to go to such lengths to destroy the seat of government?

Tweet A young adventurer Guy Fawkes was born in 1570, the son of an official in York's ecclesiastical court. Protestant by birth, he's believed to have converted to Catholicism as a young man. In 1593, he travelled to Flanders, where he enlisted in the Spanish army, fighting with distinction during the capture of Calais in 1596. By all accounts, Guy Fawkes was an imposing figure. Tall and well-built, he had reddish-brown hair and fine beard. He had a good reputation as a brave and resourceful soldier. If you were planning to overthrow the King of England, you'd want him on your side. James the 1st A disappointing king James I came to the English throne in 1603, following the death of Elizabeth I. He was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, whose execution Elizabeth had ordered in 1587. English Catholics had been suppressed for years under Elizabeth and they were hoping that James - the son of a Catholic queen - would be more sympathetic. Initially, the signs were good. Anti-Catholic statutes were rolled back and Catholics began to worship openly.

But the new measures angered powerful Protestant interest groups and, by 1604, James was obliged to clamp down on Catholics once again, fuelling increasing resentment within a community now convinced it was being systematically persecuted. Gunpowder, treason and plot Robert Catesby was a charismatic young Catholic gentleman with a history of speaking out against the English crown. In 1604 he recruited a group of Catholic activists willing to stage a spectacular strike at the heart of the English establishment. The plan was to blow up the Houses of Parliament at a time when the King himself would be present. The aim was to destabilise the monarchy sufficiently to spark a Catholic uprising. Guy Fawkes, with his soldiering background and demonstrable dedication to the Catholic cause, was the ideal man to supervise the preparation and ignition of a gunpowder stack big enough to blow James and his parliament sky-high. Peter Wright, Thomas Percy, Guido Fawkes and Robert Catelby: all part of the Catholic Activists recruited by Fawkes Failure In a surveillance operation that wouldn't have looked out of place in an episode of Spooks, English spies had connected Guy Fawkes to Robert Catesby.

They knew something was afoot but couldn't identify the target until, on October 26, 1605, one of the conspirators sent the Catholic-born Lord Monteagle an anonymous letter warning him to avoid the opening of parliament, scheduled to take place on November 5. Guy Fawkes, meanwhile was finalising the covert deployment of 36 barrels of gunpowder and a huge stack of firewood, in a cellar beneath the Houses of Parliament. Monteagle showed the letter to the English authorities and the net began to close around the conspirators. Fawkes was arrested on the night of November 4, as he waited by his pile of gunpowder for the opening of parliament the next day. Aftermath As news spread across London that a Catholic plot to assassinate the King had been foiled, citizens began to light celebratory bonfires. The remaining plotters fled to the Midlands, where Catesby and several others were killed in a clash with the King's men on November 8. Those that survived were brought back to London and, along with Fawkes, tried for treason.

On January 30 and 31, 1606, Fawkes and seven other plotters were hanged, drawn and quartered, the traditional method of execution for treason. The failed Gunpowder Plot ushered in an era of even fiercer Catholic repression in England. For centuries, effigies of the Pope were set alight on bonfires every November 5. Gradually, the Pope figures were replaced with effigies of Guy Fawkes. BBC - History - The Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot By Bruce Robinson Last updated 2011-03-29 The failed plot to assassinate James I and the ruling Protestant elite would, however unfairly, taint all English Catholics with treason for centuries to come. Who were the conspirators and what did they hope to achieve? On this page Print this page Disillusionment Spying and shoot-outs, treachery and torture, not to mention gruesome deaths. The Gunpowder Plot has it all. Why were Catholics so bitter, and what did they hope to achieve? The year 1603 marked the end of an era. After 45 years on the English throne, Elizabeth I was dying.

All signs suggested her successor would be James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary Queen of Scots - the queen who had been executed in 1587 on Elizabeth's orders. English Catholics were very excited. They had suffered severe persecution since 1570, when the Pope had excommunicated Elizabeth, releasing her subjects from their allegiance to her. The Spanish Armada of 1588 had made matters worse. To the Tudor State, all Catholics were potential traitors. They were forbidden to hear Mass, forced instead to attend Anglican services, with steep fines for those recusants who persistently refused. Yet rumours suggested James was more warmly disposed to Catholics than the dying Queen Elizabeth. His wife, Queen Anne of Denmark, was a Catholic, and James himself was making sympathetic noises. The crypto-Catholic Earl of Northumberland sent one of his staff, Thomas Percy, to act as his agent in Scotland. Percy's reports back optimistically suggested that Catholics might enjoy protection in James' England. The early signs were encouraging. Upon his accession as James I of England (VI of Scotland), the new king ended recusancy fines and awarded important posts to the Earl of Northumberland and Henry Howard, another Catholic sympathiser.

This relaxation led to considerable growth in the number of visible Catholics. Trying to juggle different religious demands, James was displeased at their increasing strength. The discovery in July 1603 of two small Catholic plots did not help. Although most Catholics were horrified, all were tainted by the threat of treason. Yet rumours suggested James was more warmly disposed to Catholics than the dying Queen Elizabeth. The situation deteriorated further at the Hampton Court Conference of January 1604. Trying to accommodate as many views as possible, James I expressed hostility against the Catholics in order to satisfy the Puritans, whose demands he could not wholly satisfy. In February he publicly announced his 'utter detestation' of Catholicism; within days all priests and Jesuits had been expelled and recusancy fines reintroduced. Although bitterly disappointed, most English Catholics prepared to swallow the imposition of the fines, and live their double lives as best they could. But this passive approach did not suit all. Robert Catesby was a devout Catholic and familiar with the price of faith. His father had been imprisoned for harbouring a priest, and he himself had had to leave university without a degree, to avoid taking the Protestant Oath of Supremacy.

Yet he possessed immense personal magnetism, crucial in recruiting and leading his small band of conspirators. Top The plotters The lower ground floor vault of the House of Lords where the gunpowder was stored © Their first meeting was on 20 May 1604. Catesby was joined by his friends Thomas Wintour, Jack Wright and Thomas Percy at the Duck and Drake, in the Strand. The fifth person was Guy Fawkes. Originally from York, he had been recruited in Flanders, where he had been serving in the Spanish Army. They discussed their plan to blow up Parliament House, and shortly afterwards leased a small house in the heart of Westminster, installing Fawkes as caretaker, under the alias of John Johnson. With Parliament successively postponed to 5 November 1605, over the following year the number of plotters gradually increased to ten. Robert Keyes, Robert Wintour, John Grant and Kit Wright were all relatives, by blood or marriage, to one or more of the original five conspirators. As one of Catesby's servants, Thomas Bates' loyalty was equally firm. Fawkes was to light the fuse and escape to continental Europe.

In March 1605 the group took out a lease on a ground-floor cellar close by the house they had rented from John Whynniard. The cellar lay directly underneath the House of Lords, and over the following months 36 barrels of gunpowder were moved in, enough to blow everything and everyone in the vicinity sky high, if ignited. Still hoping for foreign support, Fawkes travelled back to Flanders. Unsuccessful, he was also spotted by English spies. They reported back to Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, James' first minister, and made the link between Fawkes and Catesby. Over the next two months Catesby recruited Ambrose Rookwood, as well as Francis Tresham and Sir Everard Digby. Both Rookwood and Digby were wealthy and owned large numbers of horses, essential for the planned uprising. Tresham was Catesby's cousin through marriage, and was brother-in-law to two Catholic peers, Lords Stourton and Monteagle. Back in London in October, with only weeks to go, the final details were planned. Fawkes was to light the fuse and escape to continental Europe.

To coincide with the explosion, Digby would lead a rising in the Midlands and kidnap King James's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, ready to install her as a puppet queen. In Europe, Fawkes would be arguing the plotters' case to continental governments, to secure their passive acceptance, even support. Top Discovery Copy of the 'anonymous' letter delivered to Lord Monteagle © Everything seemed ready. But on the night of 26 October, an anonymous letter was delivered to Lord Monteagle, warning him to avoid the opening of Parliament. He took the letter - generally thought to have come from Tresham - to Salisbury, who decided the best results would be achieved by striking at the last minute. Thomas Ward, one of Monteagle's servants, had warned the plotters of the letter. Undaunted, they returned to London, and on 4 November Percy visited his patron, Northumberland, to sniff out any potential danger. Smelling nothing, they pressed on with the plan, and Catesby, Wright and Bates set off for the Midlands. All seemed well. It wasn't. The waiting over, Salisbury ordered Westminster to be searched. The first search spotted a suspiciously large amount of firewood in a certain cellar.

The second, at around midnight, found Fawkes. Immediately arrested, he gave only his alias, but Percy's name had already been linked with the cellar and house, and a warrant for his arrest was immediately issued. The plotters escaped from London for the Midlands. Rookwood was the fastest, covering 30 miles in two hours on a single horse, a considerable achievement that enabled him to catch up with, and warn, his co-conspirators. ...his silence had prompted James I to give permission to use torture, gradually 'proceeding to the worst'. These six plotters - Catesby, Rookwood, the Wright brothers, Percy and Bates - rode on towards Warwickshire. As the first bonfires of thanksgiving for the discovery of the plot were being lit in London, 'John Johnson' was being interrogated. By 6 November his silence had prompted James I to give permission to use torture, gradually 'proceeding to the worst'. Even this, however, failed to extract any useful information for two more days. In the Midlands, the plotters raided Warwick Castle.

By now they were wanted men and, with their stolen horses, they rode to Holbeche House in Staffordshire, which they thought would be more easily defended. On arrival, they discovered that their gunpowder was soaked, and laid it in front of the fire to dry. They should have known better: the ensuing explosion blinded John Grant, rendering him useless for the inevitable confrontation. This came quickly, in the form of 200 men led by Sir Richard Walsh, the High Sheriff of Worcestershire. They arrived at Holbeche House in the morning of 8 November. The battle was short. Catesby, the Wrights and Percy died from their wounds; Thomas Wintour, Rookwood and Grant were captured. Five others remained at large. Top High treason Guy Fawkes being interrogated by King James VI of Scotland and I of England © Not for long, however. By December, only Robert Wintour was still free. Furthermore, under interrogation Bates had admitted confessing the details of the plot to the Jesuit priest Father Tesimond. With the Jesuits now implicated in the 'Powder Treason', the government set about finding them, ransacking scores of Catholic homes in the process.

To further capitalise on the widespread sense of shock, the 'King's Book' - containing James's own account of what had happened, as well as the confessions of Fawkes and Thomas Wintour - was rushed through, appearing in late November. Francis Tresham died of illness in the Tower in December, and Robert Wintour was captured in the New Year. On 27 January 1606 the trials began. Westminster Hall was crowded as spectators listened to Sir Edward Coke's speech. Under instructions from Salisbury, the Attorney General lay principal responsibility on the Jesuits, before describing the traditional punishment for traitors: hanging, drawing and quartering. They would be hanged until half-dead, upon which their genitals would be cut off and burned in front of them. Still alive, their bowels and heart would be removed. Finally they would be decapitated and dismembered; their body parts would be publicly displayed, eaten by the birds as they decomposed. ...before describing the traditional punishment for traitors: hanging, drawing and quartering. Only Digby pleaded guilty, and his trial followed that of the other seven. All were found guilty of high treason.

Digby, Robert Wintour, Bates and Grant were executed on 30 January, with Thomas Wintour, Rookwood, Keyes and Fawkes dying the next day. Yet the repercussions rumbled on. Some small fry were tortured in the Tower and, tainted by Percy, the Earl of Northumberland was imprisoned there until 1621. However, Monteagle's letter - now kept in the Public Records Office - rewarded him with an annuity of around £700 per year. It was ordinary Catholics, however, who suffered the longest as a result of the Gunpowder Plot. New laws were passed preventing them from practising law, serving as officers in the Army or Navy, or voting in local or Parliamentary elections. Furthermore, as a community they would be blackened for the rest of the century, blamed for the Great Fire of London and unfairly fingered in the Popish Plot of 1678. Thirteen plotters certainly proved an unlucky number for British Catholics: stigmatised for centuries, it was not until 1829 that they were again allowed to vote.

History explorer: The gunpowder plot | History Extra Directory History explorer: The gunpowder plot Dr Clare Jackson visits Coughton Court in Warwickshire, which played a key role in the conspiracy to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605... This article was first published in the November 2014 issue of BBC History Magazine Friday 29th January 2016 Submitted by: BBC History Magazine Share BBC History Magazine - 5 issues for £5 Coughton Court in Warwickshire was home to one of the conspirators behind the failed gunpowder plot of 1605. © Dreamstime Despite its obvious size and grandeur, there is a certain intimacy to Coughton Court, home to the Throckmorton family since 1409. Walking up the main staircase, generations of Throckmortons stare down from their gilded frames – a deliberate celebration of what is said to be the oldest Catholic family in England. In the drawing room – a light, airy space situated on the first floor of the central gatehouse – roundels and shields of heraldic glass commemorate dynastic marriages with other notable Catholic families.

Next door, in what is known as the little drawing room, a 17th-century veneered cabinet opens to reveal a secret, mirrored recess, which was used during the celebration of Mass in a period where openly practising Catholicism was forbidden. Indeed, above the drawing room, at the top of a winding set of stairs, the Tower Room with its wide windows from where unwelcome visitors could be spotted, was often employed for Catholic ceremonies. The double priest-hole in the room’s north-east turret (consisting of two hidden compartments, one above the other) would have been used as a hiding place for priests in times of trouble. Keeping evidence of their faith from public eyes was of paramount importance when England was under Protestant rule, but the Throckmortons were thrust into the religious and political limelight when, in 1605, they became embroiled in one of the most famous assassination attempts in history. The Tower Room at Coughton Court was used to celebrate Mass in secret. Its large windows meant that uninvited visitors could be seen before they reached the house.

© National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel “When we think of the gunpowder plot, it’s easy to imagine all the action taking place in Westminster, at the heart of government,” says author, historian and broadcaster Clare Jackson. “But the Midlands was where it all began, and it was here, at Coughton Court, that much of the planning took place, and where one of the conspirators, Sir Everard Digby, and his family were living, having rented the property from Thomas Throckmorton the previous year. Indeed, it was at Coughton that Digby sought to orchestrate a full-scale Catholic uprising across the Midlands – should the conspiracy prove successful.” 9 places associated with the Gunpowder Plot The plot itself had its roots in the change of regime from Tudor to Stuart, in 1603, when James VI of Scotland succeeded to the throne of England as James I following the death of Elizabeth I. Despite his strong Protestant faith, James – at first – appeared to be keen on promoting freedom of worship in his new combined kingdom. But legal toleration of the Catholic faith was not forthcoming and, says Jackson, horizons began to shrink for a lot of Catholics.

While some were prepared to risk fines or even imprisonment by practising their faith – albeit in secret – a small group of aristocrats took decisive action. “Historians still debate what the precise aims of the conspirators were,” says Jackson, “and a great deal of the evidence we do have has been reconstructed from some of the plotters’ testimonies and evidence given at later trials. “As far as we can tell, the plot’s aim was to assassinate James and the royal family, but also to blow up parliament – the institution that had passed a series of anti-Catholic penal laws. It was hoped that in the chaos that would have followed the destruction of the country’s established system of government, a new Catholic state could emerge. What is less well known, perhaps, is that the plotters also planned to abduct James’s nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, from her residence at Coombe Abbey in Warwickshire, and set her up as a puppet ruler.” Coughton’s painted canvas, known as the Tabula Eliensis (1596), gives details of Catholics imprisoned for their faith.

© National Trust Images/John Hammond The plotters themselves were a small group of men, most of whom were in their mid-30s and from well-established Catholic families whose parents and grandparents had suffered greatly under the laws directed at Catholics who refused to attend Anglican services. Robert Catesby was the group’s leader – the charismatic son of Sir William Catesby of Lapworth and Anne Throckmorton of Coughton. At some point in 1604, he set about recruiting a group of co-conspirators who possessed the skills needed to pull off an operation on the scale of the gunpowder plot. Catesby’s cousins, Thomas and Robert Wintour, joined the conspiracy, as did Francis Tresham whose considerable wealth helped to finance the ambitious plan as it reached its later stages. Crucially, all of those involved were recruited for their connections, skills or experience. In profile: Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes, the man who is synonymous with the gunpowder plot, had a different background to Catesby and his fellow conspirators.

Fawkes had spent much of the 1590s and early 1600s on the continent and was, therefore, virtually unknown in England. His considerable experience in ballistics and his anonymity made Fawkes the perfect man to smuggle gunpowder into London. The logistics of blowing up the Houses of Parliament without detection were considerable, and a number of plans were proposed and dismissed before the final strategy was decided upon. One of these involved the renting of a house on one side of the House of Lords, from which attempts to dig a tunnel for the gunpowder were made. Ultimately this proved too difficult and in March 1605, with the help of Thomas Percy, a kinsman of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, the conspirators managed to rent a basement storeroom beneath the House of Lords. Slowly and stealthily over the following months, Guy Fawkes transferred gunpowder into the storeroom: by the time parliament opened on 5 November, 36 barrels were in place. Henry Garnet was at Coughton Court when the plot was discovered and was executed for his part in it.

© Bridgeman Losing his nerve “The weak link in the plotters’ circle was probably Francis Tresham”, says Clare Jackson. “He was evidently nervous about the plans from the start, and, according to his written confession, tried on a number of occasions to dissuade Catesby from carrying out his plans, even offering him money to go abroad. “What happened next is still debated, but we do know that on 26 October 1605, Tresham’s brother-in-law, the Catholic nobleman Lord Monteagle, received an anonymous letter warning him not to attend parliament’s opening on 5 November. Given his relationship to Monteagle, and his initial reluctance, it may well have been Tresham who supplied the tip-off and, in doing so, brought down the entire plot.” The letter, which advised the earl to “shift your attendance at this parliament for God and man hath concurred to punish the wickedness of this time” and warns that “they shall receive a terrible blow this parliament and yet they shall not see who hurts them”, was immediately shown to Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury and one of the king’s most important ministers.

Although many members of parliament were initially sceptical of the alleged threat against them, King James, whose father Henry Stuart had been killed in a suspicious explosion in 1567, took the menace of gunpowder seriously, and ordered a search of the Commons. On the evening of 4 November, Fawkes was found with his stash of gunpowder, which had been concealed beneath iron bars and wood. “Guy Fawkes remained amazingly resolute under questioning,” says Jackson, “giving away no information other than stating that his name was ‘John Johnson’, and declaring to an astonished king that ‘a dangerous disease required a desperate remedy’, and that his intentions had been ‘to blow the Scotsmen present back into Scotland’.” What if Guy Fawkes had succeeded? The other conspirators, meanwhile, had learned of the letter and had immediately suspected Tresham as its author, despite his denials. Unaware of the severity with which James was taking the threat, the decision was made to continue with the planned explosion. But on 5 November, the group was horrified to learn of Fawkes’s arrest and the plot’s discovery: the majority of them – including Catesby – fled to the Midlands.

The discovery of Coughton’s double priest - hole in 1858 revealed a folding leather altar, a palliasse (straw bed) and a rope ladder. © National Trust Anxiously awaiting news of the plot’s success or failure were the families of the conspirators. “Among them,” says Jackson, “was Lady Mary Digby, husband of the plotter Sir Everard. “In the early hours of 6 November, Catesby’s servant, Thomas Bates, clattered his horse over the moat bridge here at Coughton Court with news the awaiting families had been dreading. Among the small group who received Bates in the drawing room here was Lady Mary and Father Henry Garnet, the Catholic priest who had performed a secret mass for the Feast of All Saints in the house just a few days before.” It was only a matter of time before the conspirators were caught. Some of them fled to Holbeche House (now a nursing home), just over 26 miles from Coughton. Here, ironically, Catesby and several others were injured in an explosion while trying to dry out their gunpowder in front of a fire in preparation for a showdown with the authorities.

That showdown duly followed on 8 November when Catesby, Percy and two others were killed in a shoot-out with their pursuers. Digby, Tresham and Bates were among those who were rounded up by the authorities over the following days while others, including Father Garnet, were arrested on suspicion of involvement. Lady Mary never saw her husband again: he, like most of the other conspirators, was publicly hanged, drawn and quartered. But although the plot to take out king and parliament had failed, we still ‘remember, remember, the fifth of November’ centuries after. Five more places to explore 1) Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire Where persecuted Catholics once hid Baddesley Clinton was known as a haven for persecuted Catholics during the 1590s, and was home to Father Henry Garnet for nearly 14 years. The house boasts three priest-holes: one of these is a lath and plaster hutch in the roof above a closet. It measures 6ft 3ins by 4ft and is just 3ft 9ins high.

Guy Fawkes | Article about Guy Fawkes by The Free Dictionary Guy Fawkes | Article about Guy Fawkes by The Free Dictionary see Gunpowder Plot Gunpowder Plot, conspiracy to blow up the English Parliament and King James I on Nov. 5, 1605, the day set for the king to open Parliament. It was intended to be the beginning of a great uprising of English Catholics, who were distressed by the increased severity of penal laws ..... Click the link for more information. . Fawkes, Guy (1570–1606) leader of Gunpowder Plot to blow up Houses of Parliament (1605). [Br. Hist.: EB, IV: 70, 801] 9 things you never knew about Guy Fawkes - Telegraph History 9 things you never knew about Guy Fawkes As Bonfire Night preparations get underway, we take a look at some of the common misconceptions and lesser known facts about our favourite villain Guy Fawkes and fellow conspirators planning the gunpowder plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament Photo: Classic Image / Alamy Comments 1.

Guy Fawkes did not die from being hung, drawn and quartered The traditional death for traitors in 17th-century England was to be hanged from the gallows, then drawn and quartered in public. But, despite his role in the Gunpowder Plot - which the perpetrators hoped would kill King James and as many members of parliament as possible - it was not to be Fawkes's fate. As he awaited his grisly punishment on the gallows, Fawkes leapt to his death - to avoid the horrors of having his testicles cut off, his stomach opened and his guts spilled out before his eyes. He died from a broken neck. His body was subsequently quartered, and his remains were sent to "the four corners of the kingdom" as a warning to others. 2. Guy Fawkes was not the Gunpowder Plot's ringleader Related Articles Bonfire night: The best Guy Fawkes in town 04 Nov 2014 There were 13 conspirators in the plot, which was masterminded by Robert Catesby, a charismastic Catholic figure who had a reputation for speaking out against the English crown.

But it was Fawkes who gained notoriety after the plot was foiled, for he had the perilous duty of sneaking into the cellar beneath the House of Lords and igniting the explosives. It was Fawkes who was caught red-handed with 36 barrels of gunpowder, and for two days he was the only conspirator who the King’s men had captured. Guy Fawkes discovered on November 5 1605 (Hulton Archive) 3. Guy Fawkes won the unlikely admiration of King James I Even under torture, Guy Fawkes remained defiant. He withstood two full days of torture before he confessed to plotting to blow up Parliament. When asked why he had so much gunpowder, he replied that his intention was: “to blow you Scotch beggars back to your native mountains”. Fawkes admitted that he had planned to blow up the House of Lords, and expressed his regret at having failed to do so. His steadfast manner earned him the praise of King James, who described Fawkes as possessing "a Roman resolution". James I, King of England and Scotland (Heritage Images/Corbis) 4.

Guy Fawkes was actually Protestant by birth Despite becoming the greatest enemy of the Protestant establishment, Fawkes was, in fact, born into the faith. However, his maternal grandparents were recusant Catholics , who refused to attend Protestant services. In 1578, when Fawkes was eight, his father died and his widowed mother married a Catholic, Dionis Baynbrigge. Fawkes converted to Catholicism when he was a teenager. 5. Guy Fawkes has an island named after him He is one of Britain’s most infamous villains, whose effigy has been burned and whose demise has been publicly celebrated for more than four centuries. It may come as a surprise, then, that there is an island named after him. To the north-west of Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, a collection of two uninhabited, crescent-shaped islands is named Isla Guy Fawkes, or Guy Fawkes Island. 6. Guy Fawkes liked to be called by an Italian nickname Aged 21 and a committed Catholic, Fawkes sold the estate his father had left him and went to Europe to fight for Catholic Spain against the Protestant Dutch republic in the Eighty Years War.

While he was abroad, he adopted the Italian variant of his name, becoming known as 'Guido'. This was thought to be an attempt to sound more continental and therefore more serious about his Catholic faith. When he was caught by the King's men, at first he claimed his name was John Johnson. However after being tortured, he was forced to sign a confession to his role in the Gunpowder Plot, and this he signed as ‘Guido Fawkes’. Guy Fawkes went by the name of Guido 7. The Houses of Parliament are still searched once a year to make sure there are no conspirators hiding with explosives Before the annual State Opening of Parliament, the Yeomen of the Guard search the Houses of Parliament to make sure there are no would-be conspirators hiding in the cellars. This has become more of a tradition than a serious anti-terrorist precaution. 8. The cellar that Fawkes tried to blow up no longer exists It was destroyed in a fire in 1834 that devastated the medieval Houses of Parliament. 9.

The gunpowder would have done little damage to Parliament The 36 barrels of gunpowder that Fawkes planted in a cellar below the Houses of Parliament would have been sufficient to raze it to the ground, while causing severe damage to neighbouring buildings. However, some experts now claim that the gunpowder had “decayed”, and would not have properly exploded even if ignited. A 2005 ITV documentary recreated the explosion to show the damage it would have caused, had the plot succeeded The Economist explains: How Guy Fawkes became the face of post-modern protest | The Economist How Guy Fawkes became the face of post-modern protest Nov 4th 2014, 23:50 Tweet ON NOVEMBER 5TH Britons up and down the country will light bonfires and set off fireworks to mark the execution of Guy Fawkes, a 17th-century Roman Catholic terrorist. More recently activists have appropriated the day as one of mass protest. Anonymous, an online "hacktivist" group, is encouraging people to march against their governments.

The London faction of the "million mask march" will gather outside the Houses of Parliament, many of them wearing masks of a grinning Guy Fawkes. How did he become the face of post-modern protest? In 1605 Fawkes was part of a Roman Catholic group that plotted to blow up the House of Lords during the state opening of parliament. The "Gunpowder plot" was intended to kill King James I, a Protestant, and install his nine-year-old daughter on the throne to rule as a Roman Catholic monarch. But an anonymous letter describing the plans was sent to the King. Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the House with 36 barrels of gunpowder nearby. He was tortured and the conspirators were convicted of high treason in January 1606. The government was particularly heavy-handed in its treatment of the group in order to try to deter future terrorist attempts. The tradition of lighting bonfires and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes began shortly after the foiled plot, and schoolchildren still learn the ghoulish rhyme "Remember, remember the fifth of November".

In the 1980s graphic novelists Alan Moore and David Lloyd created a comic strip, "V for Vendetta", in which the main protagonist is a cloaked anarchist who wears a grinning, moustachioed Guy Fawkes mask while battling against a fascist authoritarian state. The authors wanted to celebrate Fawkes by turning him into an anti-hero for the modern age. The comic was made into a film in 2006, and although it deviated from the original in a number of ways the mask of "V" was a faithful rendition of the stylised image from the book. Plastic masks to commemorate the release of the film were distributed to fans and could be bought online. Two years later, in January 2008, Anonymous launched "Project Chanology"—a coordinated attack on the Church of Scientology’s website which they deemed to be censoring information. Rule 17 of Anonymous's code of conduct, circulated to protesters before its "first real life public demonstration" on February 10th 2008 states: "Cover your face. This will prevent your identification from videos taken by hostiles".

For those who chose to wear masks the decision was simple: taking inspiration from the last scene of the film, in which a crowd of Guy Fawkeses watch the Houses of Parliament explode, the "V for Vendetta" mask provided just the cover that Anonymous needed. Since then the image has been adopted by the Occupy movement, and Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has also donned a Fawkes mask. It has become a regular feature of many protests. Mr Lloyd has called the mask a "convenient placard to use in protest against tyranny…it seems quite unique, an icon of popular culture being used this way". Although official masks from the film are still available online, most protesters prefer to print or paint their own. And to this day the Yeomen of the Guard, the English monarch's bodyguards since 1485, still search the cellars below the Palace of Westminster before each state opening of Parliament. The spirit of Fawkes, in many regards, lives on.

Dig deeper: 4 London Spots to Celebrate Guy Fawkes Night 2015 | Going Places 4 London Spots to Celebrate Guy Fawkes Night 2015 November 5, 2015 Written by Morly Cowan Remember remember the fifth of November! It’s the day when Britain commemorates the events of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Guy Fawkes (yes, the guy those V for Vendetta masks are supposedly modelled after) tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I. Today, the date is known as Guy Fawkes Night as well as Bonfire Night, with the context of its political and historic largely lost. The day is “celebrated” with fireworks and bonfires. Here’s a list of four of the best Bonfire Night happenings in London (some taking place on the weekend just after the 5th). Alexandra Palace Fireworks Festival Saturday November 7, gates open at 3pm, fireworks display at 8pm.

Alexandra Palace Way, N22 7AY The nearest London Underground station is at Wood Green (but you’ll still need to take W3 bus up the hill from there). Possibly the biggest and better attended Guy Fawkes Night in London, this festival is held at North London’s beautiful Alexandra Palace, perched on a hill with commanding views fo the city. You’ll have to pay to get into the palace grounds, but folks from miles around will be able to admire the fireworks from below. For ticketing information and details go to fireworks.london . Chestnuts Fields Fireworks Thursday November 5 from 7pm to 8:30pm Waltham Forest Town Hall Complex, Forest Road, E17 4JF The closest London Underground Station is at Walthamstow Central. One of East London’s bigger fireworks displays, the Chestnut Fields event falls on the actual date of the 5th and features a festival type setting with street food vendors. Find out more at walthamforest.gov.uk . Coram’s Fields Fireworks Display Friday November 6 from 5:15pm 93 Guilford Street WC1N 1DN The closest London Underground Station is at Russell Square.

Coram’s Fields in Bloomsbury is a historic Victorian era children’s park where adults must be accompanied by a child in order to get in. The small, family friendly fireworks display here starts early so the celebraties won’t cut into the little ones’ bedtime.

Question: Which famous historic figure tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London in 1605 in ‘The Gunpowder Plot’?
Answer: Guy Fawkes