Editing Gunpowder Plot (section)

==Background==

===Religion in England===
{{Main|English Reformation}}
{{See also|Catholic Church in England and Wales}}
[[File:Elizabeth I George Gower.jpg|thumb|alt=A three-quarter portrait of a middle-aged woman wearing a tiara, bodice, puffed-out sleeves, and a lace ruff. The outfit is heavily decorated with patterns and jewels. Her face is pale, her hair light brown. The backdrop is mostly black.|[[Elizabeth I]], queen from 1558 to 1603]]

Between 1533 and 1540, [[King Henry VIII]] took control of the English Church from Rome, the start of several decades of religious tension in England. English Catholics struggled in a society dominated by the newly separate and increasingly [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[Church of England]]. Henry's daughter, [[Queen Elizabeth I]], responded to the growing religious divide by introducing the [[Elizabethan Religious Settlement]], which required anyone appointed to a public or church office to swear allegiance to the monarch as head of the Church and state. The penalties for refusal were severe; fines were imposed for [[recusancy]], and repeat offenders risked imprisonment and execution. Catholicism became marginalised, but despite the threat of torture or execution, priests continued to practise their faith in secret.<ref>{{Harvnb|Haynes|2005|p=12}}</ref>

===Succession===
Queen Elizabeth, unmarried and childless, steadfastly refused to name an heir. Many Catholics believed that her Catholic cousin, [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], was the legitimate heir to the English throne, but she was executed for treason in 1587. The [[English Secretary of State]], [[Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury|Robert Cecil]], negotiated secretly with Mary's son and successor, King [[James VI of Scotland]]. In the months before Elizabeth's death on 24 March 1603, Cecil prepared the way for James to succeed her.{{efn|Salisbury wrote to James, "The subject itself is so perilous to touch amongst us as it setteth a mark upon his head forever that hatcheth such a bird".<ref>{{Harvnb|Willson|1963|p=154}}</ref>}}

Some exiled Catholics favoured [[Philip II of Spain]]'s daughter, [[Isabella Clara Eugenia|Isabella]], as Elizabeth's successor. More moderate Catholics looked to James's and Elizabeth's cousin [[Arbella Stuart]], a woman thought to have Catholic sympathies.<ref>{{Harvnb|Haynes|2005|p=15}}</ref> As Elizabeth's health deteriorated, the government detained those they considered to be the "principal papists",<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|pp=xxv–xxvi}}</ref> and the [[Privy Council (England)|Privy Council]] grew so worried that Arbella Stuart was moved closer to London to prevent her from being kidnapped by [[papist]]s.<ref name="Fraserpxxv">{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|p=xxv}}</ref>

Despite competing claims to the English throne, the transition of power following Elizabeth's death went smoothly.{{efn|The [[heir presumptive]] under the terms of [[Henry VIII's will]], i.e. either [[Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp]], or [[Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven]], depending on whether one recognised the legitimacy of the first-mentioned's birth; and the Lady [[Arbella Stuart]] on grounds similar to James's own.}} James's succession was announced by a proclamation from Cecil on 24 March, which was generally celebrated. Leading papists, rather than causing trouble as anticipated, reacted to the news by offering their enthusiastic support for the new monarch. [[Jesuits|Jesuit]] priests, whose presence in England was punishable by death, also demonstrated their support for James, who was widely believed to embody "the natural order of things".<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|pp=xxvii–xxix}}</ref>

James ordered a ceasefire in the conflict with Spain, and even though the two countries were still technically at war, [[Philip III of Spain|King Philip III]] sent his envoy, [[Juan de Tassis, 2nd Count of Villamediana|Don Juan de Tassis]], to congratulate James on his accession.<ref name="Fraserp91">{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|p=91}}</ref><!-- James and Tassis first met 8 November, Fraser p94 --> In the following year both countries signed the [[Treaty of London (1604)|Treaty of London]].

For decades, the English had lived under a monarch who refused to provide an heir, but James arrived with a family and a clear line of succession. His wife, [[Anne of Denmark]], was the daughter of [[King Frederick II of Denmark]]. Their eldest child, the nine-year-old [[Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales|Henry]], was considered a handsome and confident boy, and their two younger children, [[Elizabeth of Bohemia|Elizabeth]] and [[Charles I of England|Charles]], were proof that James was able to provide heirs to continue the Protestant monarchy.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|pp=70–74}}</ref>

===Early reign of James I===
James's attitude towards Catholics was more moderate than that of his predecessor, perhaps even tolerant. He swore that he would not "persecute any that will be quiet and give an outward obedience to the law",<ref>{{Harvnb|Brice|1994|p=88}}</ref> and believed that exile was a better solution than [[capital punishment]]: "I would be glad to have both their heads and their bodies separated from this whole island and transported beyond seas."<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|p=46}}</ref> Some Catholics believed that the martyrdom of James's mother, [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], would encourage James to convert to the Catholic faith, and the Catholic houses of Europe may also have shared that hope.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|pp=xxx–xxxi}}</ref>

James received an envoy from [[Albert VII, Archduke of Austria|Albert VII]],<ref name=" Fraserp91"/> ruler of the remaining Catholic territories in the Netherlands after over 30 years of war in the [[Dutch Revolt]] by English-supported Protestant rebels. For the Catholic expatriates engaged in that struggle, the restoration by force of a Catholic monarchy was an intriguing possibility, but following the failed [[Spanish invasion of England]] in 1588 the papacy had taken a longer-term view on the return of a Catholic monarch to the English throne.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|p=7}}</ref>

During James I's reign the [[European wars of religion]] were intensifying. Protestants and Catholics were engaged in violent persecution of each other across Europe following the [[Protestant Reformation]]. Catholics made several assassination attempts on Protestant rulers in Europe and in England, including plans to poison James I's predecessor, Elizabeth I. In 1589, during the [[French Wars of Religion]], the French King [[Henry III of France|Henry III]] was mortally wounded with a dagger by [[Jacques Clément]], a fanatic member of the [[Catholic League of France]]. Nine years later, the Jesuit [[Juan de Mariana]]'s 1599<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Merle |first=Alexandra |date=July 2014 |title=El De rege de Juan de Mariana (1599) y la cuestión del tiranicidio: ¿un discurso de ruptura? |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277896294_El_De_rege_de_Juan_de_Mariana_1599_y_la_cuestion_del_tiranicidio_un_discurso_de_ruptura |journal=Criticón |volume=120 |pages=89–102 |via=ResearchGate.net}}</ref> ''On Kings and the Education of Kings'' (''De rege et regis institutione'') argued in support of [[tyrannicide]]. This work recounted the assassination of Henry III and argued for the legal right to overthrow a tyrant. Perhaps due in part to the publication of ''De rege'', until the 1620s, some English Catholics believed that [[regicide]] was justifiable to remove 'tyrants' from power.<ref name=MarshallP227>{{Harvnb|Marshall|2006|p=227}}</ref> Much of the "rather nervous"<ref>{{Harvnb|Northcote Parkinson|1976|pp=32–33}}</ref> political writing from James I was "concerned with the threat of Catholic assassination and refutation of the [Catholic] argument that 'faith did not need to be kept with [[heretics]]'".<ref name=MarshallP228>{{Harvnb|Marshall|2006|p=228}}</ref>

===Early plots===
In the absence of any sign that James would move to end the persecution of Catholics, as some had hoped for, several members of the [[clergy]] (including two anti-Jesuit priests) decided to take matters into their own hands. In what became known as the [[Bye Plot]], the priests [[William Watson (priest)|William Watson]] and [[William Clark (priest)|William Clark]] planned to kidnap James and hold him in the [[Tower of London]] until he agreed to be more tolerant towards Catholics. Cecil received news of the plot from several sources, including the [[Archpriest]] [[George Blackwell (priest)|George Blackwell]], who instructed his priests to have no part in any such schemes. At about the same time, [[Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham|Lord Cobham]], [[Thomas Grey, 15th Baron Grey de Wilton|Lord Grey de Wilton]], [[Griffin Markham]] and [[Walter Raleigh]] hatched what became known as the [[Main Plot]], which involved removing James and his family and supplanting them with [[Arbella Stuart]]. Amongst others, they approached [[Philip III of Spain]] for funding, but were unsuccessful. All those involved in both plots were arrested in July and tried in autumn 1603. [[George Brooke (conspirator)|George Brooke]] was executed, but James—keen not to have too bloody a start to his reign—reprieved Cobham, Grey, and Markham while they were at the scaffold. Raleigh, who had watched while his colleagues sweated, had been due to be executed a few days later, but was also pardoned. Arbella Stuart denied any knowledge of the Main Plot. However, the two priests, Watson and Clark—condemned and "very bloodily handled"—were executed.<ref>{{Harvnb|Haynes|2005|pp=32–39}}</ref>

The Catholic community responded to news of these plots with shock. That the Bye Plot had been revealed by Catholics was instrumental in saving them from further persecution, and James was grateful enough to allow pardons for those recusants who sued for them, as well as postponing payment of their fines for a year.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|pp=76–78}}</ref>

On 19 February 1604, shortly after he discovered that his wife, Queen Anne, had been sent a [[rosary]] from the pope via one of James's spies,{{efn|Historians are divided on when and if Anne converted to Catholicism. "Some time in the 1590s, Anne became a Roman Catholic."<ref>{{Harvnb|Willson|1963|p=95}}</ref> "Some time after 1600, but well before March 1603, Queen Anne was received into the Catholic Church in a secret chamber in the royal palace".<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|p=15}}</ref> "... Sir John Lindsay went to Rome in November 1604 and had an audience with the pope at which he revealed that the queen was already a Catholic".<ref>{{Harvnb|Northcote Parkinson|1976|p=36}}</ref> "Catholic foreign ambassadors—who would surely have welcomed such a situation—were certain that the Queen was beyond their reach. 'She is a Lutheran', concluded the [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] envoy Nicolo Molin in 1606."<ref>{{Harvnb|Stewart|2003|p=182}}</ref> "In 1602 a report appeared, claiming that Anne&nbsp;... had converted to the Catholic faith some years before. The author, the Scottish [[Jesuit]] [[Robert Abercromby (missionary)|Robert Abercromby]], testified that James had received his wife's desertion with equanimity, commenting, 'Well, wife, if you cannot live without this sort of thing, do your best to keep things as quiet as possible'. Anne would, indeed, keep her religious beliefs as quiet as possible: for the remainder of her life—even after her death—they remained obfuscated."<ref>{{Harvnb|Hogge|2005|pp=303–304}}</ref>}} Sir [[Anthony Standen (spy)|Anthony Standen]], James denounced the Catholic Church. Three days later, he ordered all Jesuits and all other Catholic priests to leave the country, and reimposed the collection of fines for recusancy.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|pp=41–42}}</ref>

James changed his focus from the anxieties of English Catholics to the establishment of an Anglo-Scottish union.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|pp=100–103}}</ref> He also appointed Scottish nobles such as [[George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar|George Home]] to his court, which proved unpopular with the [[Parliament of England]]. Some Members of Parliament made it clear that, in their view, the "effluxion of people from the Northern parts" was unwelcome, and compared them to "plants which are transported from barren ground into a more fertile one". Even more discontent resulted when the King allowed his Scottish nobles to collect the recusancy fines.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|pp=103–106}}</ref> There were 5,560&nbsp;convicted of recusancy in 1605, of whom 112&nbsp;were landowners.<ref>{{Harvnb|Northcote Parkinson|1976|p=8}}</ref> The very few Catholics of great wealth who refused to attend services at their parish church were fined £20 per month. Those of more moderate means had to pay two-thirds of their annual rental income; middle class recusants were fined one [[Shilling (British coin)|shilling]] a week, although the collection of all these fines was "haphazard and negligent".<ref>{{Harvnb|Northcote Parkinson|1976|p=34}}</ref> When James came to power, almost £5,000 a year (equivalent to almost £12 million in 2020) was being raised by these fines.{{efn|Comparing relative [[purchasing power]] of £5,000 in 1605 with 2008.}}<ref name=MeasuringWorth>{{citation |last=Officer |first=Lawrence H. |title=Purchasing Power of British Pounds from 1264 to Present |publisher=MeasuringWorth |url=http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/index.php |year=2009 |accessdate=3 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124192556/http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/index.php |archivedate=24 November 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Northcote Parkinson|1976|p=33}}</ref>

On 19 March, the King gave his opening speech to his first English Parliament in which he spoke of his desire to secure peace, but only by "profession of the true religion". He also spoke of a Christian union and reiterated his desire to avoid religious persecution. For the Catholics, the King's speech made it clear that they were not to "increase their number and strength in this Kingdom", that "they might be in hope to erect their Religion again". To [[John Gerard (Jesuit)|John Gerard]], these words were almost certainly responsible for the heightened levels of persecution the members of his faith now suffered, and for the priest [[Oswald Tesimond]], they were a repudiation of the early claims that the King had made, upon which the papists had built their hopes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|pp=106–107}}</ref> A week after James's speech, [[Edmund Sheffield, 1st Earl of Mulgrave|Edmund, Lord Sheffield]], informed the king of over 900&nbsp;recusants brought before the [[Assizes]] in [[Normanby, North Lincolnshire|Normanby]], and on 24 April, the [[Popish Recusants Act 1605]] was introduced in Parliament which threatened to outlaw all English followers of the Catholic Church.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|p=108}}</ref>