Gunpowder, Treason And Plot

Dunstable Town Guide, Paul Heley, gives a historical account of the actions of Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes and co. that lead to the infamous Gunpowder Plot. Dunstable even gets a mention!

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot

Gunpowder, Treason And PlotGunpowder, Treason And Plot

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The sixteenth century will be remembered for its religious bitterness when Catholics and Protestants were at each other’s throats during and following the reign of Henry 8th. In 1533 he had broken with the Church of Rome and set up his own Church in England – and this act on his part had gone down like a lead balloon over much of England and the whole of Catholic Europe.
The religious bigotry continued with a vengeance throughout both the reigns of Edward 6th and Mary 1stand it wasn’t until Elizabeth 1st came to the throne that there was some attempt at moderation; albeit within a framework of a Protestant England. During this time, catholics made up a small (but very discontented and vociferous) minority and were fined for not attending the “established” church, were not allowed to conduct Mass and, generally speaking, had something of a rough time (but at least they weren’t burnt at the stake as had previously been the lot of supposed heretics).

Gonpowder, Treason And Plot James 1st
King James 1st

Following Elizabeth’s death in 1603 – with no natural successor – the crown passed to James 6th of Scotland who now became James 1st of England. He was the son of the devout catholic, Mary Queen of Scots, and English catholics hoped (and assumed) that James would make life easier for them. But James had never seen his mother after the age of one and had been raised by strict Scottish Presbyterian guardians (all hell fire and brimstone!) and, although he tried to continue Elizabeth’s (comparitively) moderate treatment of catholics at first, he quickly became alarmed over minor Catholic rebellions which had occurred in 1601 and 1603 and resorted to his true self: namely he became extremely anti Catholic.
This did nothing to stem the feelings of catholic revolt which had festered for years. They were gradually translated into a genuine plot against Protestantism in general and the desire for a return to Rome. Although catholics were in a small minority, a number came from old aristocratic families with powerful friends and sympathisers – especially in the Midland areas.

Gunpowder, Treason And Plot Robert Catesby
Kit Harington as Robert Catesby in BBC drama Gunpowder

Principal amongst these plotters (known as recursants) was Robert Catesby who carefully collected a few equally fanatical and determined followers. The coming of James 1st and his obvious dislike of catholics stirred their particular pot only further; so much so that they plotted to blow up both the King, the Palace of Westminster and all sitting MPs when they met for the State opening of Parliament on November 5th, 1605. It was an outrageously ambitious plot requiring great planning and final execution if it were to succeed. They also needed a lot of luck. But they were driven by religious fervour.
Catesby managed to secure the allegiance of a certain ex soldier named Guy Fawkes who had had 10 years of service and had become expert in explosives. He changed his name to Guido (so as to sound more Italian in order to impress the ladies). Altogether there were 13 central conspirators principal amongst whom were Catesby, Fawkes, Thomas Percy and Sir Everard Digby. But a Jesuit priest, Henry Garnet, also knew about the plot but kept quiet claiming “confidentiality of the confessional”. There were a few others who, most likely, had some inkling of what was going on but who also kept their heads below the parapet.
As the time grew nearer, it is suspected that one of the inner circle (not actually known but thought to be (perhaps) Tresham) felt that the magnitude of the intended outcome was excessive and wrote a letter, anonymously, to Lord Monteagle warning him not to attend the opening of Parliament. A passage in this letter reads “they shall receive a terrible blow, this Parliament; and yet they shall not see who hurts them”. The receipt of this letter gave forewarning that something really serious was planned and heralded an upsurge in security.
As part of the plot, an undercroft below the Houses of Parliament had been leased and 36 barrels of gunpowder had been illicitly purchased and stored therein under a cover of wood, iron and other debris in an attempt to conceal them from casual glance.
The plotters had hoped that with the demise of the King and Parliament, England would be without any form of government and that the King of Spain could step into the vacuum thus created with the consequent return to Rome and catholicism. But Fawkes was caught red handed in the undercroft ready to ignite the gunpowder. It was a close call.
Fawkes gave his name as John Johnson, invented some cock and bull story, and was taken for questioning. For some time he refused to admit that he was party to any conspiracy but eventually he was subjected to increasing torture on the rack where, finally, he gave the names of all his compatriots and their subsequent intentions.Gunpowder, Treason And Plot The RackThe arrest of Fawkes was the necessary impetus for those remaining in London to flee northwards with the intention of rallying further support and the abduction of Princess Elizabeth, the king’s nine year old daughter. The party split up but some stayed overnight at Dunstable, Hockliffe and Brickhill before regrouping the next day to continue to Warwickshire and finally to Holbeche House in Staffordshire.
But they did not receive the support they had expected – people were terrified of being branded as traitors if discovered – nor did they abduct the princess as a bargaining chip as originally intended. But they got as far as Holbeche House where they were involved in a fire fight – shades of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – such that a few of them were killed. Those who survived were taken into custody and transported back to London. They were not tried in a court of law – they were already assumed guilty of treason – and were condemned to be executed by the barbaric practice of being hanged, drawn and quartered.

But many historians consider that the whole episode was partly, if not wholly, engineered by the Government and that the “security forces” were always one step ahead of the unsuspecting conspiritors.
Amazing though this may sound, the king and his government were determined to blacken the name of Catholicism by whatever means possible and this “demonstration” of catholic treason was extremely good propaganda. In fact, before being popularly known as the Gunpowder Plot, it was known as either the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason Plot. The net result was that catholics were just about tolerated but were treated with the greatest suspicion and not allowed to hold high office for some considerable period.
However, and although James might have won this particular round such that the country was spared from another spell of catholic rule , his reign cannot be regarded as popular. He considered himself as “divine” and, therefore, beyond any guidance or criticism. Consequently he regarded Parliament with the utmost contempt and considered its only purpose was to grant him money for a very profligate lifestyle. What is more, and although married, he is thought to have been essentially homosexual and “piqued himself on his great contempt for women”. Charles Dickens described him as “cunning, covetous, wasteful, idle, drunken, greedy, dirty, cowardly; a great swearer and the most conceited man on earth”. Sounds like a nice chap!
He also annoyed the people of Dunstable with his imposition of a most unpopular vicar, Edward Alport, leading to much popular unrest. Then, after just over 20 years, in 1625, James 1st died to be replaced by his son, Charles 1st. People hoped that things might get better – in fact they got worse – culminating in the English Civil War.
So much for the Stuarts.

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