The Gunpowder Plot of 1605: A Journal for MultiMedia History

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The Gunpowder Plot of 1605
The 1605’s Gunpowder plot was a failed plot to blow up King James I of England and
the parliament for their continued persecution on the Roman Catholics in the nation. It is also
often regarded as the Gunpowder Treason Plot. There was a background of political and
religious divisions in England that had a long history. The Fawkes, Catesby and their fellow
potters took the matter into their own hands and strike at the heart of the government and the
monarchy in the year 1605 and plotted the Gunpowder plot (Barr). The plot is a conspiracy
story that combines the elements of suspense, intrigue and mystery. This essay is going to
elaborate on the root causes of such divisions and the influence they had upon the conspiracy.
It shall explore on providing a brief background of the plot and its discovery.
In the year 1603, James I was crowned as the king of England. He was not a Catholic
and was therefore, persuaded by the England’s parliament for introducing the new laws made
against the Roman Catholics. It was the root cause behind the disappointment of the
Catholics. Hence, in the very next year, a group of Roman Catholics decided to take some
measures against the new law and hence, they planned the plot (Hadfield). The plot was the
idea of Robert Catesby and it was decided to be executed to blow up the then parliament on
the day it was to open (Lounsbury). As it was one of the significant days, all the important
and noble persons including the king were expected to be there. They expected that the new
king would be honest and fairer to them. They expected King James to be more tolerant to
them but James I had proved himself to be the completely opposite and he had ordered all the
Catholic priests to leave the country as soon as possible. This angered the Catholic
community to a great extent. They therefore decided to kill the king and put his daughter
Elizabeth on the throne of England ensuring that she was one of the Catholics. This was the
issue that led to the planning of the conspiracy against the king.

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There were several conspirators apart from Catesby and Fawkes. They were Robert
Wintour, Hugh Owen, Everard Digby, Christopher and Jon Wright, Robert Keyes, Francis
Tresham and Thomas Bates. However, it was Catesby who planned the whole plot. Catesby
started to find an explosive expert who could help them in executing the plan successfully.
He was in a continuous communication with his peers Thomas Winter, Thomas Percy and
John Wright and they found out an explosive expert from New York named Guy Fawkes.
Catesby successfully managed to rent a house near the House of Lords and he asked his
fellow mates to dig a tunnel to the House of Lords. There arose two problems- firstly, the
house was near River Thames and this was filling the tunnel with water and secondly, the
walls of the house of the House of Lords were thick and this was making it difficult for them
to break through those walls. Hence, it was clear that the idea is not going to work.
However, the plotters of the gunpowder plot had a nice stroke of luck along with
them. The opening of the parliament was postponed later to 5th of November and this gave the
plotters enough time to cook a new idea for the execution of their plan. With the same,
gradually a room was free for rent right under the House of Lords and this was great
opportunity for the plotters. They rented it immediately and Robert Keys, one of the plotters
of the plan was given the role of guarding the old room when they were busy in moving thirty
six barrels of gunpowder to the new cellar and they were then hidden behind the firewood.
After then, Fawkes was left for guarding it and to set fire to it. The other plotters left to hide
at a house present in the Midlands of the region.
However, the plot was failed. Although, the plotters played well to execute their
plans, it was a huge failure because one of those plotters leaked the information about the
same. Francis Tresham was one of the plotters of the gunpowder plot and his cousin, Lord
Monteagle was a Catholic M.P. On 26th October of the same year, Lord Monteagle received a
letter when he was about to sit for his supper (Baxter). The letter was anonymous and in that