The gunpowder plot

For over four centuries people across Britain have celebrated the 5th of November as Guy Fawkes or Bonfire Night, in honor of the salvation of King James from a plot to blow him and his entire parliament up in 1605.

The King, his family, and the English elite were seemingly threatened by a conspiracy by a cabal of Catholics opposed to the discriminatory rule of the Protestant James.

One of the plotters, Guy Fawkes, was caught setting up what would have been a massive explosion of gunpowder stored under the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster, where the king was due to open parliament the next day. Fawkes and, soon thereafter, several other conspirators were arrested, tortured, and condemned to a horrific form of execution.

But even back in the 17th century people were suspicious that the official narrative might not be entirely true. Was this plot simply the work of a small group of angry Catholics? Or were they pawns in a game masterminded by James’ own chief minister, who was willing to go to extreme lengths to test the threat that England might face from Catholic rebellion at home and potential invasion from abroad?

Attribution for music used in this episode:

Assassinations Podcast Theme Music (Intro, Outro, and Transitions) written and performed by Graeme Ronald

"On the Wing" by Purple Planet is licensed under CC BY 3.0 / A derivative from the original work