After Queen ELizabeth I died in 1603, Catholics hoped her next successor James I. Having a Catholic mother, they hoped he would be more tolerant towards their religion. Unfortunately, King Jame I turned out to be even more tolerant than Queen Elizabeth I. (The Gunpowder Plot of 1605) The Catholic people were not happy about King James I, and people …show more content…
Catesby felt that violence was the only way to solve their issues. Together, they came up with a plan. Using 36 barrels
of gunpowder, they were to blow up the House of Parliament, hopefully killing the King, Members of Parliament, and possibly the Prince of Wales. (The Gunpowder Plot of 1605)
Catesby first recruited Thomas Wintour, Jack Wright, and Thomas Percy, but the group quickly grew to 13 people including Guy Fawkes. Fawkes, while not being apart of the original few, was a strong addition due to his history. (Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night)
When Guy Fawkes was a boy he lived near York with his father Edward and mother Edith. As a committed Protestant, his father work solicitor for the religious court of the church. (Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night) However, in 1579, his father died and his mother later remarried a Catholic man named Denis Bainbridge. The family faced hardships of refusing to go to church, due to all the churches in England being
Protestant. Guy had already left England when Queen Elizabeth I made it illegal to not go to church in …show more content…
When Guy returned he told the other s it was a false alarm and the cellar was just being vacated. (Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night)
It took many nerve-wrecking months for their plan to be completed, but as it came to the day of the explosion, they feared they may injure or kill innocent people. Some plotters started having second thoughts. One
member of the group even sent out and anonymous letter warning his friend to stay clear of the Parliament November 5th.
The warning letter reached the King, so he told his forces to search the cellar.(Fraser) Guy, who was given the job of lighting the fuse, was in the cellar when authorities arrived November 5th. The barrels were hidden under piles of wood, so Guy lied and told them he was only a servant and belonged to a man named Thomas Percy. When reported to the King, he ordered a second search because Percy was Catholic.(Fraser) Guy was arrested when the authorities found the barrels of