Editing Gunpowder Plot (section)

{{Short description|Failed 1605 attempt to assassinate King James I}}
{{Distinguish|Main Plot}}{{other uses}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{CS1 config|mode=cs2}}
{{bots|deny=Citation bot}}
{{Infobox event
|image             = GunpowderPlot.jpg
|alt               = Three illustrations in a horizontal alignment. The leftmost shows a woman praying, in a room. The rightmost shows a similar scene.  The centre image shows a horizon filled with buildings, from across a river. The caption reads "Westminster". At the top of the image, "The Gunpowder Plot" begins a short description of the document's contents.
|caption           = A late 17th- or early 18th-century report of the plot
|participants      = [[Robert Catesby]], [[John and Christopher Wright]], [[Robert and Thomas Wintour]], [[Thomas Percy (Gunpowder Plot)|Thomas Percy]], [[Guy Fawkes]], [[Robert Keyes]], [[Thomas Bates]], [[John Grant (Gunpowder Plot)|John Grant]], [[Ambrose Rookwood]], Sir [[Everard Digby]] and [[Francis Tresham]]
|location          = London, England
|date              = 5 November 1605
|outcome            = Failure, plotters executed (some [[Posthumous execution|posthumously]]).
}}

The '''Gunpowder Plot''' of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the '''Gunpowder Treason Plot''' or the '''Jesuit Treason''', was an unsuccessful attempted [[regicide]] against [[James VI and I|King James VI of Scotland and I of England]] by a group of [[English Catholics|English Roman Catholics]], led by [[Robert Catesby]], who considered their actions attempted [[tyrannicide]] and who sought [[regime change]] in England after decades of [[religious persecution]].

The plan was to blow up the [[House of Lords]] during the [[State Opening of Parliament]] on Tuesday 5 November 1605,{{efn|Dates are given according to the [[Julian calendar]], which was used in [[England and Wales]] until 1752.}} as the prelude to a popular revolt in the [[English Midlands|Midlands]] during which King James's nine-year-old daughter, [[Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia|Princess Elizabeth]], was to be installed as the new head of state. Catesby is suspected by historians to have embarked on the scheme after hopes of greater [[religious tolerance]] under [[James VI and I|King James I]] had faded, leaving many English Catholics disappointed. His fellow conspirators were [[John and Christopher Wright]], [[Robert and Thomas Wintour]], [[Thomas Percy (Gunpowder Plot)|Thomas Percy]], [[Guy Fawkes]], [[Robert Keyes]], [[Thomas Bates]], [[John Grant (Gunpowder Plot)|John Grant]], [[Ambrose Rookwood]], Sir [[Everard Digby]] and [[Francis Tresham]]. Fawkes, who had 10&nbsp;years of military experience fighting in the [[Spanish Netherlands]] in the failed suppression of the [[Dutch Revolt]], was given charge of the explosives.

On 26 October 1605 [[#Letter|an anonymous letter of warning]] was sent to [[William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle]], a Catholic member of Parliament, who immediately showed it to the authorities. During a search of the House of Lords on the evening of 4 November 1605, Fawkes was discovered guarding 36&nbsp;barrels of [[gunpowder]]—enough to reduce the House of Lords to rubble—and arrested. Hearing that the plot had been discovered, most of the conspirators fled from London while trying to enlist support along the way. Several made a [[last stand]] against the pursuing [[Sheriff of Worcester]] and a posse of his men at [[Holbeche House]]; in the ensuing gunfight Catesby was one of those shot and killed. At their trial on 27 January 1606, eight of the surviving conspirators, including Fawkes, were convicted and sentenced to be [[hanged, drawn and quartered]].

Some details of the assassination attempt were allegedly known by the principal Jesuit of England, [[Henry Garnet]]. Although Garnet was convicted of [[High treason in the United Kingdom|high treason]] and put to death, doubt has been cast on how much he really knew. As the plot's existence was revealed to him through [[Confession (religion)#Catholicism|confession]], Garnet was prevented from informing the authorities by the [[Seal of the Confessional in the Catholic Church|absolute confidentiality of the confessional]]. Although anti-Catholic legislation was introduced soon after the discovery of the plot, many important and loyal Catholics remained in high office during the rest of King James I's reign. The thwarting of the Gunpowder Plot was commemorated for many years afterwards by special sermons and other public events such as the ringing of church bells, which evolved into the [[Guy Fawkes Night|British variant of Bonfire Night]] of today.