The Gunpowder Plot: History In An Hour

Remember, remember, the fifth of November,

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.

I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Like all good conspiracy stories, the tale of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 is one that

combines elements of mystery, intrigue, suspense and, of course, deception. It is the story

of a small band of disaffected Catholics who, unhappy with the constraints placed on

their religion by Elizabeth I and her successor, James I, decided to challenge the religious

and political status quo. They would do this by committing the ultimate act of terrorism –

the destruction of both king and Parliament. The plan was audacious and surprisingly

simple – and came very close to succeeding. There have been innumerable terrorist

conspiracies, both successful and otherwise, down through the ages, but the Gunpowder

Plot has succeeded in capturing our imagination unlike any other. Over 400 years has

passed since this daring scheme was discovered, and yet its legend continues

undiminished. Every year, bonfires are lit the length and breadth of Britain to mark the

Plot’s anniversary, a tradition which dates back to that fateful November night in 1605

when the Gunpowder Plot was uncovered at the eleventh hour.

This, in an hour, is the story of the Gunpowder Plot.

A Country Divided

England at the turn of the seventeenth century was a country rife with political tensions

and religious divisions, the roots of which can be traced back some seventy years to the

reign of Henry VIII. The actions of this one man would have profound repercussions for

his kingdom, condemning his people to decades of religious conflicts and persecution.

The discord which resulted from Henry’s exploits would in turn give rise to one of the

most audacious terrorist plots this country has ever seen – the Gunpowder Plot.

Henry VIII

During the early 1530s, Henry, in his desperation to marry Anne Boleyn, was frantically

looking for a way to divorce his wife of almost twenty-five years, Catherine of Aragon.

When numerous appeals to Rome for an annulment fell on deaf ears, Henry’s patience

began to wear thin. Powerless in the face of the Pope’s authority, Henry grew

increasingly resentful. Until this point, Henry had been a dutiful and pious Catholic.

Despite this, relations between the English monarch’s court and Rome were invariably

strained. Henry, accustomed to being in an authoritative position, often found it difficult

to bend to the will of the Papacy. Ever the opportunist, the King’s attentions soon turned

to the Protestant Reformation which at the time was sweeping the Continent.

Recognising in this movement a chance to circumvent the authority of Rome, Henry

began to endorse the Reformation’s ideals. Thus began a concerted campaign to wrest

power from the Papacy. Denouncing the Catholic Church as corrupt and out of

touch, Henry broke all ties with Rome in 1533.

In doing so, he proclaimed himself, and not the

Pope, to be the Supreme Head of the Church in

England; the King was now bound only by his

conscience in matters of religion and theology.

Conveniently, his conscience proved to be no

obstacle to his divorce from Catherine.

So began a marital merry-go-round which

would last for more than a decade. Proving himself to be a fickle husband and obsessed

with producing the necessary male heir, Henry would marry six times. These marriages

would end by a variety of means: divorce, death or execution. They would, however,

produce three children: Mary from his marriage to Catherine of Aragon; Elizabeth from

his union with Anne Boleyn; and the longed-for son, Edward, from his third marriage to

Jane Seymour. Henry’s offspring would each play a significant part in inflaming the

religious tensions which were first ignited by their father.

Edward VI and Mary I

When Henry died in 1547, his youngest child and only male heir, Edward, ascended to

the throne to become King Edward VI. He was only nine years old at the time of his

coronation. Brought up in the new faith, Edward, together with his Protestant guardians,

earnestly continued with Henry’s programme of reform. Under Edward’s reign, Henry’s

policy of dissolution of the monasteries was completed. This left the Church all but

bankrupt, with most of the wealth transferred to the King’s coffers. The reign of Edward

VI, however, was not destined to last long. A sickly child, the young king died in 1553 at

the age of fifteen. He left behind a country where the Church of England had become

quite firmly established. This, however, was all about to change with the ascendancy of

his half-sister Mary to the throne. During the turbulent years of her father’s religious

reforms, Mary, Henry’s eldest child, had managed to retain her Catholicism in the face of

severe opposition. In fact, it could be said that the harsh treatment of her mother,

Catherine of Aragon, at Henry’s hands had only served to harden Mary against the very

idea of Protestantism. Her unquestioning devotion to her mother’s religion was set in

stone. It is hardly surprising, then, that when Mary became queen, she quickly set about

accomplishing her long-held ambition of restoring England to the Catholic faith.

Unfortunately, in her zeal to undo all her father’s reforms, Mary revealed a hatred for

Protestantism that was all- consuming. She regarded all adherents to the new religion as

heretics, and displayed no compunction in burning at the stake those suspected of

harbouring Protestants or with Protestant leanings themselves. In all, 237 men and 52

women met a painful end during Mary’s reign. This willingness to kill in the name of

Catholicism gained her a reputation for mercilessness that would rival her father’s.

History would not judge Mary’s actions in promoting the old faith kindly – she would be

remembered for centuries to come as ‘Bloody Mary’.

Elizabeth I

After Mary’s death in 1558, the last of the Tudor children came to the throne. Like

Edward before her, Elizabeth’s sympathies lay with the Protestant cause, and so her

coronation saw the pendulum swing once again back to the Protestant religion.

A year later, in 1559, the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity were introduced,

reinstating into law many edicts which had been repealed by Mary I. The Acts declared

the celebration of Mass and other Catholic traditions illegal, while also enshrining

Elizabeth’s supremacy over the Church of England. These new laws introduced fines for

those who refused to attend Church of England services; abstainers were known as

recusants. These measures were designed to make life very difficult for Catholics in

England, and for the most part they succeeded in their aim. Catholic disillusionment set

in, and the situation would soon worsen. In 1570, in reaction to Elizabeth’s draconian

measures against the Catholics in her realm, Pope Pius V issued the Papal Bull, Regnans

in Excelsis. This missive ex-communicated Elizabeth from the Catholic Church, and as

such absolved all Catholics of their allegiance to their Queen. In effect, the Papal Bull

declared that Catholics had a duty to God before their monarch. This proclamation did

little to improve conditions for the beleaguered Catholics of the Elizabethan era. All

Catholics were now viewed as potential traitors to the Crown, effectively sanctioned by

Rome.

The inexperienced Queen, fearful of uprisings against her authority, introduced more

legislation. In a bid to prevent Catholics receiving religious instruction, priests were

denounced as traitors and banned from English shores. Anybody found guilty of

sheltering priests, or providing assistance to them in any way, would also be subject to

the full force of the recusancy laws. Where once Catholicism was simply illegal, it was

now regarded as high treason. Elizabeth did not hesitate to use this new legislation to her

advantage; it soon became clear that she was as adept as her sister Mary at executing

religious opponents and heretics.

These measures, however, failed in their ultimate aim of eradicating the Catholic threat;

in fact, they succeeded only in forcing Catholics underground. While some priests did

flee the country, many decided, in defiance of new laws, to remain in England. The fight

to save the Catholic faith was aided by the arrival of hundreds of foreign-trained priests.

The majority came from the English seminary in Douai, northern France – a college

founded by the Jesuits in 1568 to instruct Englishmen in theology and provide training

for priests. In all, over 450 priests arrived in England from foreign shores, of whom 130

were executed for their efforts to administer the Catholic faith. One such priest was

Father Edmund Campion.

A Protestant by birth, Campion had won a scholarship to Oxford at the age of fifteen. His

immense intellectual abilities earned him a fellowship of St John’s College, Oxfordand a

deaconship in the Anglican Church. However, he secretly harboured sympathies with the

Catholic faith and, in 1571, stole away to Douai to study with the Jesuits. After his

conversion to Catholicism and his ordination as a priest in 1580, Campion returned to

England on a mission to support his fellow clergymen. After a year spent travelling

around the English countryside, he was finally arrested by Elizabeth’s men. He was

brought to the Tower of London and tortured. Refusing to denounce his faith, he was

sentenced to death in 1581. If Elizabeth hoped his execution would damage the morale of

the Catholic crusaders, she was to be sorely disappointed. Instead, his death elevated him

to a Catholic martyr and the circumstances of his death inspired Catholics to re-double

their efforts in the face of Protestant persecution.

The survival of priests during this difficult time would not have been possible without the

protection of the recusant population. Proving themselves to be just as undeterred by the

threat of the recusant laws as the priests, many of the subjugated Catholic population

were willing to help defy Elizabeth. Catholic women, in particular, became central to the

Catholic resistance movement. Regardless of the danger to themselves, they provided

priests with vital support in the form of food and shelter, often concealing them in their

own homes. Hiding places or ‘priest holes’ became a feature of recusant households,

saving many members of the Catholic clergy from the gallows. Despite the constant

danger, many continued to practise their Catholic faith in secret.

As the gulf between Catholics and Protestants widened, a pervasive and insidious

atmosphere of fear and suspicion descended upon the population, which was to provide a

fertile breeding ground for the radicalization of the disaffected Catholic minority.

Read more: The Gunpowder Plot In An Hour.