Why did they try to blow up the Houses of Parliament?
We’ve all heard of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot – but why did he and his co-conspirators want to blow up Parliament in the first place?
Image: Discovery of the Gunpowder Plot (1823) by Henry Perronet Briggs | Public Domain
Gunpowder Siege dramatically reimagines the most infamous rebellion plot in British history, shattering the myths to reveal the largely forgotten, gripping truth behind the Gunpowder Plot. Prepare to see the story you thought you knew - blown wide open. The show starts Monday, 4th November on Sky HISTORY.
'Remember, remember the fifth of November.'
On this date in 1605, a group of conspirators attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament and everyone inside them. Since the State Opening was to occur on this day, it would have led to the death of King James I of England and VI of Scotland, as well as pretty much the entirety of the government.
But why, exactly, did Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators aspire to commit such a diabolical act?
Religious warfare across Europe
Late 16th and early 17th century Europe was a veritable powder keg of religious frictions (please pardon the pun). Corruption within the Catholic Church had led to the rise of Protestant ideals even before Henry VIII upended the religious situation in England by divorcing Catherine of Aragon and declaring himself as Supreme Head of the Church of England in the 1530s.
Henry was succeeded on the throne by his son Edward (a Protestant), Mary (a Catholic) and eventually Elizabeth I (a Protestant again). Under her reign, England eventually became the leading Protestant power in Europe – but that led to rising tensions with a number of Catholic countries, most notably Spain.
The execution of Elizabeth’s cousin Mary Queen of Scots in 1587 and the failed invasion of the Spanish Armada the following year were huge events that shaped the political and religious climate at the time. Many Catholics were persecuted (around 100 priests were executed during Elizabeth’s reign) and religious intolerance was rife.
The false dawn of James I
When Elizabeth I died without children, the Scottish King James VI came to London to assume the English throne as James I in 1603. Given that he was the son on Mary Queen of Scots (a devout Catholic), and that his wife Anne of Denmark was also Catholic, there were high hopes that he would take a more lenient view.
However, James was under heavy pressure from a House of Commons that was strongly anti-Catholic to maintain Elizabeth’s stance on religious intolerance. What’s more, the discovery of several Catholic plots, including the Bye Plot (to kidnap him and force him to repeal the anti-Catholic Penal Laws) and the Main Plot (to kill him and replace him with his Catholic cousin Arabella Stuart), hardened his resolve.
When a peace treaty with Spain was concluded in 1604, and the Spanish failed to solicit any concessions towards English Catholics at all, that was the last straw for the conspirators. The plot, which had been conceived the year prior, was put into action.
Personal as well as political
Robert Catesby was the chief architect of the Gunpowder Plot. Raised as Roman Catholic, Catesby’s parents had close ties with a number of other prominent Catholic families. In 1601, Catesby took part in the botched Essex’s Rebellion, which attempted to move against Elizabeth I’s chief advisor Robert Cecil as retribution for the perceived influence he wielded over her. Catesby was wounded, incarcerated and fined for his trouble.
Meanwhile, Guy Fawkes has since become the poster child of the Plot, though in reality his role was relatively minor. His Protestant father died when he was just eight years old and his mother remarried a Catholic, leading Fawkes to change his religion at a young age. He fought for the Spanish in the Eighty Years’ War against the Dutch and was drafted into the Gunpowder Plot team of conspirators due to his expertise with explosives.
Meanwhile, there were a host of other individuals involved in the planning of the scheme, including Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy and John Wright. All of them had their own personal reasons for wishing to dethrone King James I and open the country to Protestantism once more.
Outcome and aftermath
After renting a cellar underneath the Houses of Parliament and successfully storing 36 barrels of gunpowder there for some six months, the plan finally unravelled just hours before it was due to be executed. The failure came about due to a letter sent from an unknown source to Lord Monteagle advising him to stay away from Parliament that day.
The cellar was duly searched and Fawkes found. He was subjected to extensive torture and revealed the names of his co-conspirators. These were tracked to a country manor called Holbeche House, where a siege ended in gunfire, killing Catesby and several others, while the survivors were taken prisoner, tortured and eventually executed.
Nowadays, the event is still remembered around the UK with the celebration of Bonfire Night on 5th November. Fireworks are let off and a great bonfire is built, upon which effigies of Fawkes are burnt. Meanwhile, the Houses of Parliament are still searched prior to the State Opening to this every day, though the practice has become more ceremonial than precautionary in recent years.
