Full Transcript for The Gunpowder Plot: Treason, Terror and the Plot to Blow Up Parliament

00:04:55.519 --> 00:05:00.240 He was intelligent, persuasive, and deeply committed to his faith. 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:06.560 He was also prepared to take extraordinary risks in pursuit of what he believed was a religious cause. 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:08.879 He was no stranger to rebellion. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:15.759 He had been involved in the failed Essex Uprising of 1601, an attempt to challenge the authority of Elizabeth I. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:23.360 That episode had brought him into contact with the dangerous world of political conspiracy, and it had cost him financially. 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:25.680 Yet Catesby was not deterred. 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:32.160 By 1604, he had become convinced that the new king would not deliver the religious change he wanted. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:39.360 Rather than continue to wait for the government to offer concessions, he began considering a much more violent solution. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:45.839 His plan was not simply to kill James the Father, he wanted to destroy the political establishment gathered around him. 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:52.879 The state opening of parliament would bring together the king, members of the royal family, the lords and the commons. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:58.879 It was a rare opportunity to strike at the centre of the English government in one devastating moment. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:04.079 If the King and Parliament were killed, Catesby believed the country might be thrown into chaos. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:10.560 That chaos could provide an opportunity for a Catholic uprising, particularly in the Midlands. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:17.759 The conspirators hoped to seize the King's young daughter, Princess Elizabeth, and place her on the throne under their influence. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:20.000 She was only nine years old. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:26.959 The intention was to create a new political order, one in which Catholicism could be restored to a position of power. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:29.279 It was an enormous gamble. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:42.000 It depended on the King and Parliament being killed, the conspirators escaping, support appearing from elsewhere in the country, and a child being installed as a new monarch, and all of it rested on secrecy. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:48.959 Catesby needed men he could trust, men willing to risk their lives, their families, and their fortunes. 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:54.720 Men who shared his religious convictions and were prepared to turn those convictions into action. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:07:00.560 One of the first people he approached was Thomas Wintor, a fellow Catholic gentleman. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:02.079 Others would follow. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:09.600 And then there was a man who had spent years fighting on the continent, a man who knew his way around weapons and explosives. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:19.519 A man who would eventually be discovered beneath Parliament, surrounded by enough gunpowder to make the entire building disappear. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:22.639 His name was Guy Fawkes. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:30.959 Guy Fawkes was born in York in 1570 into a family with connections to both sides of England's religious divide. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:35.600 His father, Edward Fawkes, worked as a proctor in the church courts. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:45.199 His mother, Edith, came from a Catholic family, and after Edward's death, when Guy was still a child, she remarried into another Catholic household. 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:46.560 Guy attended St. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:52.959 Peter's School in York, an institution associated with a number of families who remained loyal to Catholicism. 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:56.800 His religious upbringing would shape the direction of his adult life. 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:04.079 By the time he was a young man, Fox had embraced Catholicism at a time when doing so could carry serious consequences. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:09.439 In 1591, he sold his inheritance and travelled to the European continent. 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:15.360 There he joined the Spanish forces fighting in the Eighty Years' War against the Dutch Protestant rebels. 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:22.079 It was a long and brutal conflict, and Fox gained military experience over the years he spent serving abroad. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:28.959 He rose to the rank of El Forez, a junior officer, and developed a reputation as a capable soldier. 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:32.240 He also became known by another name, Guido. 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:38.399 It was the name he used while serving in Europe, and it is the name that appears in some accounts of his life. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:42.240 But history has generally remembered him by the name he was born with. 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:50.879 Fawkes' time abroad gave him something Catesby needed: experience of warfare, discipline, and the handling of explosives. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:09:02.720 He was not the mastermind of the conspiracy, he did not devise the entire plan, but he was an experienced soldier, and that made him particularly useful to the men who were preparing to carry it out. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:10.879 In 1603, Fawkes was involved in an attempt to secure Spanish support for action that might restore Catholicism in England. 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:13.120 That support did not materialise. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:26.159 The prospect of foreign assistance was fading, but Catesby's idea was taking shape, and in May of 1604, the two men would come together with others who were prepared to take the most dangerous step imaginable. 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:33.679 They would meet in London, swear an oath of secrecy, and begin planning an explosion that would be remembered for centuries. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:42.639 The target was Parliament, the date was the opening of the new session, and the man who would be left guarding the gunpowder was Guy Fawkes. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:46.480 London, May 1604. 00:09:47.120 -->

00:09:54.799 A small group of men were preparing to swear an oath that would bind them to one of the most audacious conspiracies England had ever known. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:10:03.840 They were not an army, they had no great force at their disposal, no public following, no guarantee that anyone would rise up to support them. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:10.240 What they did have, though, was a plan, and at its centre was a simple, devastating idea. 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:19.279 If they could destroy Parliament at the moment it assembled, they could remove much of the country's political leadership in a single explosion. 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:25.360 The first meeting took place on the 20th of May 1604 at an inn called the Duck and Drake. 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:33.519 Those present were Robert Catesby, Thomas Wintour, John Wright, Thomas Percy, and Guy Fawkes. 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:38.799 Five men who believed that violence could bring about the religious transformation they wanted. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:43.120 They swore an oath of secrecy, committing themselves to the conspiracy. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:49.200 The precise details of the oath are described in the historical account, but its purpose was clear. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:53.759 No one, outside their circle, was to know what they were planning. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:56.720 There was a religious dimension to this meeting too. 00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:01.840 The conspirators reportedly took their oath before retiring to another room to hear mass. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:05.519 Their plot was not simply a political scheme in their minds. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:09.360 They saw it as part of a struggle for the future of Catholicism in England. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:15.279 That conviction would help sustain them as the plan became increasingly dangerous. 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:17.840 But five men were not enough. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:26.879 As the conspiracy developed, Catesby recruited additional men, many of whom were connected through family, friendship, or shared religious loyalties. 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:36.399 Among them were Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates, John Grant, Ambrose Rookwood, Sir Everard Digby, and Francis Tresham. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:40.960 Christopher Wright also became involved, joining his brother John and the others. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:43.759 The group eventually numbered about 13. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:45.600 They were not all alike. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:12:01.039 Some were wealthy gentlemen with estates and social connections, others had military experience, some were deeply committed to the Catholic cause, others were drawn into the scheme through their loyalty to Catesby or their personal relationships with the men already involved. 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:02.879 But they shared one thing. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:08.000 They were willing to participate in a plan that could end with them being executed for treason. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:10.159 And they needed to keep it

secret. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:12.240 That was going to be difficult. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:18.320 Because the plan required something rather substantial, gunpowder, and a great deal of it. 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:23.279 The target was the House of Lords, where the state opening of Parliament was due to take place. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:29.919 The conspirators needed to get their explosive as close as possible to the chamber without attracting attention. 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:36.879 Their solution was to rent property in the Palace of Westminster and use an underground storage space beneath the House of Lords. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:41.120 Thomas Percy played an important role in securing access to the property. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:45.759 He had connections that helped him obtain the lease of a cellar beneath the building. 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:50.399 The arrangement gave the conspirators an opportunity to move their plan forward. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:55.919 At first, they considered digging a tunnel towards the House of Lords from a nearby property. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:05.120 It was dangerous, laborious work, and the scheme was eventually abandoned when they were able to obtain access to a cellar much closer to the target. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:07.440 This was a crucial development. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:15.440 Rather than attempting to borrow beneath the building, they could store the gunpowder directly below the place where the King and Parliament would gather. 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:23.679 The cellar was not some enormous underground cavern, it was a practical storage space, one that could be used without immediately attracting suspicion. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:26.559 And that was precisely what the conspirators needed. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:29.039 The gunpowder was brought in gradually. 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:35.120 Barrels were transported and stored with other materials placed around them to disguise their purpose. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:39.200 The number eventually discovered was 36 barrels. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:44.240 36 barrels of gunpowder hidden beneath the House of Lords. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:46.159 Imagine the scene. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:50.000 Above them, the ordinary business of government continued. 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:54.960 Men worked, servants moved through the buildings, officials prepared for parliament. 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:57.600 The city carried on around them. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:04.320 And beneath it all, the conspirators were quietly assembling an enormous explosion. 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.360 Fawkes was given responsibility for guarding the explosives. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:12.559 His military experience made him a natural choice. 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:18.240 He had spent years serving in the Spanish Netherlands and understood the use of gunpowder in warfare. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:25.440 He was also less well known in England than some of the other conspirators, which may have made him a useful person to place near the cellar. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:32.080 His task was to remain close to the explosives and ensure that they were ready when the time came. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:38.080 The plan was to wait until the state opening of parliament on the 5th of November 1605. 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:46.399 The king would attend, members of the Lords and Commons would assemble, the building would be filled with the people the conspirators wanted to eliminate. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:48.720 Fawks would ignite the gunpowder. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:56.399 Then, while the explosion destroyed the political leadership, the remaining conspirators intended to set their wider plans in motion. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:02.639 They hoped to raise support in the Midlands, seize Princess Elizabeth, and establish a new Catholic regime. 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:17.440 It was a plan that depended on timing, secrecy, and an extraordinary amount of luck, and the conspirators had no way of knowing that the first serious threat to their scheme would not come from a government spy discovering the cellar. 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:19.759 It would come in the form of a letter. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:28.320 A letter his author and perhaps even its precise purpose would become one of the enduring mysteries of the gunpowder plot. 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:33.759 By October 1605, the conspiracy was approaching its final stages. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:45.600 The date of the state opening had been set, the explosives were in place, the men involved were making their preparations, and the plan was beginning to move beyond the point where anyone could easily turn back. 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:47.279 But there was a problem. 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:53.360 Not everyone who would be inside Parliament on the 5th of November was an enemy of the conspirators. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:16:00.080 There were Catholics among the members of the House of Lord, people with Catholic sympathies, family connections and friendships. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:06.240 Some of the plotters knew that innocent people, including those who shared their faith, would be killed in the explosion. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:08.720 This caused unease within the group. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:14.000 Several conspirators expressed concern about the safety of Catholics who might be attending Parliament. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:18.480 Lord Monteagle, William Parker, was among those discussed. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:27.600 He was a Catholic peer, and the thought of killing him and others who had no part in the government's persecution was troubling, but the plot was not abandoned. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:31.200 Instead, the conspirators continued towards their deadline. 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:38.480 And then, on the 26th of October 1605, a letter arrived at Monteagle's home in Hoxton. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:41.759 It had been delivered by a stranger to one of his servants. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:43.919 The letter was anonymous.

00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:52.399 It did not name the conspirators, explain the exact nature of the threat, or provide any evidence, but its warning was unmistakable. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:55.919 It advised Monte Eagle to avoid attending Parliament. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:03.039 The writer claimed to have concern for his safety and urged him to retreat to the country, where he could wait for events to unfold. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:10.000 There would be no apparent disturbance beforehand, the letter suggested, but Parliament would receive a terrible blow. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:12.960 And the writer added something particularly chilling. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:16.160 Those who were attacked would not see who had hurt them. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:20.400 The letter ended by advising Montigill to burn it once he had read it. 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:22.720 Naturally, he did not. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:31.759 Instead, Montigil travelled to Whitehall and delivered it to Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury, and one of the king's most important ministers. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:36.240 The warning had reached the authorities, but who had written it? 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:40.319 This is where the gunpowder plot becomes even more intriguing. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:44.640 The identity of the letter's author has never been reliably established. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:53.039 One of the most frequently suspected men is Francis Tresham, a cousin of Robert Catesby, who had only recently joined the conspiracy. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:59.200 He was wealthy, connected, and had reason to be concerned about the danger facing Catholic peers. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:02.400 Tresham was also related to Monteagle by marriage. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:08.079 Some accounts suggest that he may have tried to warn Monteagle without exposing the entire conspiracy. 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:15.440 Others have questioned whether Monteagal himself knew more than he admitted or whether the letter was part of a government operation. 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:21.519 The Earl of Salisbury has also been suggested as a possible author, but these remain theories. 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:25.920 There is no conclusive proof identifying the person who wrote the warning. 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:32.960 What we do know is that the letter reached Monteagle, and Monteagle took it seriously enough to bring it to the attention of the government. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:37.200 Salisbury did not immediately reveal the full extent of his suspicions. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:42.799 He shared the information with other members of the government, but the king was away hunting in Cambridgeshire. 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:51.039 The authorities had a warning, they did not yet have the whole story, and crucially, the conspirators had not been arrested. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:54.000 The letter did not remain a secret for long though. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:19:00.799 Monteagle's servant, Thomas Ward, had family connections with the

Wright brothers, two men involved in the conspiracy. 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:03.759 News of the warning made its way back to the plotters. 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:07.920 Catesby suspected that Francis Tresham might have been responsible. 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:10.640 He confronted him alongside Thomas Wintour. 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:20.000 Tresham denied writing the letter and urged the others to abandon the plot, but Catesby was not persuaded that the danger was serious enough to stop everything. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:22.960 The conspirators had spent months preparing. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:30.160 They had secured the cellar, obtained the gunpowder, and arranged their plans for the uprising that was supposed to follow the explosion. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:33.599 To abandon it now would mean giving up everything. 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:35.279 And so they continued. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:41.920 On the 3rd of November, Kate Spee Percy and Wintor met for what would be one of their final discussions. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:48.960 Percy reminded them that they should be prepared to face the worst, while the conspirators still had a ship waiting on the Thames. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:51.200 Their preparations were continuing. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:53.839 Even a suspicion gathered around them. 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:59.920 On the 4th of November, the day before the planned explosion, the men were making their final arrangements. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:07.680 Everard Digby was waiting with a hunting party at Dunchurch, ready to play his part in the planned seizure of Princess Elizabeth. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:14.640 Fawkes visited Robert Keyes and received a pocket watch from Thomas Percy, intended to help him time the fuse. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:21.359 The plan was still alive, but the king had returned to London, and he had finally been shown the letter. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:25.039 James I saw the letter on the 1st of November. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:27.920 One particular word caught his attention. 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:28.960 Blow. 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:33.599 The King believed it might refer to an explosion involving fire and gunpowder. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:36.799 He had reason to understand the danger of such an attack. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:43.519 His father, Lord Darnley, had been killed in an explosion at Kirker Field in Scotland in 1567. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:47.519 James suspected that the warning might refer to something similar. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:50.720 The government now had a more specific concern. 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:53.519 A search of the Houses of Parliament was arranged. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:21:00.400 The Lord Chamberlain, Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, was to examine the buildings, both above and below ground. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:07.519 The search would take place on Monday, the 4th of November, but the conspirators were already making their final preparations. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:10.640 The first search found something suspicious. 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:16.240 Beneath the House of Lords in the Undercroft, there was a large quantity of firewood and other material. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:19.599 It was accompanied by a man who appeared to be a servant. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:22.240 That man was Guy Fawkes. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:26.160 He explained that the wood belonged to his master, Thomas Percy. 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:32.559 The searchers did not arrest him, they left the building, but the mention of Percy's name raised further suspicion. 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:36.720 Percy was already known to the authorities as a Catholic agitator. 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:39.920 The discovery was enough to prompt another search. 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:42.400 This time he would be more thorough. 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:52.559 Late that night, a party led by Thomas Canivet returned to the Undercroft, and there, among the wood and other materials, they found the man who had been guarding the explosives. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.240 He was dressed in a cloak and a hat, wearing boots and spurs. 00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.039 His name, he said, was John Johnson. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:21:59.599 But this 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:02.960 This time he would not be allowed to walk away. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:06.079 The searchers found more than a suspicious servant. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:11.440 Hidden beneath the piles of wood and other materials were thirty six barrels of gunpowder. 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:19.680 They also discovered that the man calling himself John Johnson was carrying a pocket watch, slow matches, and touchwood. 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:22.720 There was no longer any doubt about what was happening. 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:26.319 The gunpowder was intended to destroy the House of Lords. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:29.039 The man standing beside it was Guy Fawkes. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:31.440 He was arrested and taken into custody. 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:35.200 The plot had been discovered before the King and Parliament could assemble. 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:42.880 And the explosion that might have killed the King, his family, and much of the country's political leadership would never happen. 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:45.359 But this was not the end of the story. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:46.720 Far from it. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:50.079 The authorities had captured the man guarding the gunpowder. 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:58.480 They now needed to discover who else was involved, where the remaining conspirators were, and whether the planned uprising would still take place. 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:04.079 Fawkes, meanwhile, was taken before the king in the early hours of the 5th of November. 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:08.160 When questioned, he continued to use the name John Johnson. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:13.119 He initially revealed little beyond his Yorkshire origins and the name of his mother. 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:15.920 He did not attempt to deny his intention. 00:23:16.079 -->

00:23:19.119 He said that he had wanted to destroy the King and Parliament. 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:25.839 His composure made an impression on James, who described him as possessing a Roman resolution. 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:31.680 It was an extraordinary description of a man who had been caught in the act of preparing to commit mass murder. 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:34.480 But Fawkes' resolve was about to be tested. 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:41.839 He had been captured, the gunpowder had been found, and the authorities were beginning to identify the men who had planned the attack. 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:48.559 Some of them were already fleeing London, others were preparing to make a desperate attempt to continue the rebellion. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:51.200 The government had stopped the explosion. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:24:01.759 It had not yet caught the conspirators, and for Robert Catesby, the man who had set the entire scheme in motion, the next few days would end in fire and bloodshed. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:07.440 The arrest of Guy Fawkes had prevented the explosion, but it had not brought the conspiracy to an end. 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:12.720 Across London, the authorities were beginning to piece together the identities of the men involved. 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:22.640 Meanwhile, those conspirators still at liberty faced a choice: surrender, disappear, or attempt something that might yet rescue their cause. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:25.359 Robert Catesby chose the third option. 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:29.599 As news of Fox's arrest spread, the fugitives began leaving London. 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:36.000 They travelled northwest along Watling Street, desperate to get away from the capital before the authorities could close in. 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:38.960 Christopher Wright and Thomas Percy left together. 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:43.359 Ambrose Rookwood followed, travelling a remarkable speed on horseback. 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:49.759 He covered around 30 miles in two hours, catching up with Robert Keyes before eventually joining the others. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.720 The group gradually came together around Catesby, John Wright, and Thomas Bates. 00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:59.839 Their destination was Dunchurch, where Sir Everard Digby had arranged for a hunting party. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.720 A hunting party might attract less suspicion than a band of armed men fleeing the capital. 00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:08.799 But the conspirators were no longer simply preparing a secret operation. 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:14.480 They were now fugitives, and every mile took them further into a situation they could not control. 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:18.640 Thomas Wintle, meanwhile, had initially remained in London. 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:27.440 He even went to Westminster to see what was happening before finally fleeing to his sister's house at Norbrook and continuing towards Huddington Court. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:30.799 The authorities were already responding. 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:38.160 The gates of London were guarded, ports were closed, and the Spanish ambassador's residence was protected from an angry crowd. 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:44.480 A warrant was issued for Thomas Percy, while the Earl of Northumberland was placed under house arrest. 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:48.240 But Catesby was still determined to press on. 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:49.440 At Ashby St. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:53.519 Ledgers, the fugitives met Robert Wintour and brought him up to date. 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:58.079 They then travelled to Dunchurch, where they joined Digby and members of his hunting party. 00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:02.240 Catesby persuaded Digby that an armed uprising remained possible. 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:06.480 He went further, telling the hunting party that the King and Salisbury were dead. 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:07.599 They were not. 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:15.279 It was a desperate lie, intended to persuade those around him that the rebellion had already begun and that there was no turning back. 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:19.839 The conspirators then moved westwards towards Warwick. 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:24.559 Back in London, Guy Fawkes was being questioned. 00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:26.880 At first he revealed very little. 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:31.039 He maintained that he had acted alone and continued to use the name John Johnson. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:37.759 A letter addressed to Guy Fawkes had been found on him, however, and he eventually acknowledged that Johnson was an assumed name. 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:45.680 His composure impressed King James, but the government wanted names, connections, and above all, the identities of the men who had planned the attack. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.079 Fawkes was moved to the Tower of London. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:54.079 James authorised the use of torture, initially directing that the gentler methods should be tried first. 00:26:54.400 --> 00:27:02.640 The historical account indicates that Fawkes was almost certainly subjected to the rack, although the precise sequence of his treatment is not established. 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:06.000 On the 7th of November, his resistance broke. 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:10.319 He began to confess, and further information followed over the next two days. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:22.240 The man who had entered the undercroft intending to ignite the gunpowder was now providing the authorities with the information they needed to hunt down the rest of the conspiracy, and those men were running out of time. 00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:28.319 The fugitives raided Warwick Castle for supplies before continuing to Norbrook to collect weapons. 00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:30.640 From there they travelled to Hudding. 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:35.440 The group was shrinking, and the support Catesby had expected was not materializing. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:43.200 Thomas Bates was sent to Court in Court, carrying a letter from Catesby to Father Henry

Garnett and other Catholic priests. 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:47.759 The message explained what had happened and asked for help in raising an army. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:50.640 Garnett's response was not what Catesby wanted. 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:54.559 He urged them to abandon their actions, describing them as wicked. 00:27:54.799 --> 00:28:00.319 He then fled, although the authorities would eventually catch up with him and other priests connected to the affair. 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:05.440 The conspirators continued to Huddington Court, arriving early in the afternoon. 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:07.839 They found little sympathy or assistance. 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:11.920 Even people connected to them were frightened of being associated with treason. 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:20.319 The consequences of helping these men could be catastrophic, and the prospect of an armed rebellion was no longer looking like a realistic route to victory. 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:24.720 From Huddington, they travelled to Holbeach House on the border of Staffordshire. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:30.240 It belonged to Stephen Littleton, one of the few remaining supporters willing to offer them shelter. 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:39.680 Thomas Wintor and Lyttleton made another attempt to secure help, travelling to Pepper Hill in Boningale, the home of John Talbot, Robert Wintor's father-in-law. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:41.759 Once again, they failed. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:47.039 The conspirators were exhausted, increasingly isolated, and running out of options. 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:53.119 And then, in a moment of extraordinary carelessness, they brought danger directly into the house. 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:56.400 Some of the gunpowder they had been carrying had become wet. 00:28:56.559 --> 00:29:00.079 They spread it out in front of a fire in an attempt to dry it. 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:06.480 Gunpowder does not explode unless it is physically contained, but that did not make the situation safe. 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:09.519 A spark from the fire landed on the powder. 00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:17.920 The resulting flames engulfed Robert Catesby, Ambrose Rookwood, and John Grant, and a man named Morgan who was part of the hunting party. 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:26.319 Thomas Wintor and Littlington were still travelling back from their unsuccessful attempt to find support when a messenger told them that Catesby had died. 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:32.640 When Wintor reached Holbeach House, however, Catesby was still alive, although badly scorched. 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:35.200 Grant had been blinded by the fire. 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:37.119 It was a grim irony. 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:43.759 The men who had planned to destroy Parliament with gunpowder had now been injured by the very substance they had carried with them. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:46.640 Several of the conspirators had already left. 00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:52.000 Digby, Robert Wintel, his half-brother John, and Thomas Bates were

no longer at the house. 00:29:52.240 --> 00:29:57.519 Those who remained were Katesby, Grant, the Wright brothers, Rookwood, and Percy. 00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:03.039 Rather than continue their flight, they decided to stay and wait for the king's forces. 00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:05.839 Perhaps they believed there was nothing left to do. 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:09.279 Perhaps they were simply too exhausted to run any further. 00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:12.880 Whatever their reasoning, the end was approaching. 00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:18.880 On the morning of the 8th of November 1605, the authorities arrived at Holbeach House. 00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:25.119 Leading the force was Robert Walsh, Sheriff of Worcestershire, accompanied by around 200 men. 00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:27.200 The fugitives were surrounded. 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:29.440 There would be no escape this time. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:35.599 As the attacks moved against the house, Thomas Wintor was struck in the shoulder while crossing the courtyard. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:39.039 John Wright was shot, followed by his brother Christopher. 00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:41.359 Ambrose Rookwood was also shot. 00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:45.279 Catesby and Thomas Percy were reportedly killed by a single shot. 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:49.680 The attackers rushed the property and the surviving conspirators were taken. 00:30:49.920 --> 00:30:54.160 Grant, Morgan, Rookwood, and Wintor were among those arrested. 00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:56.559 The rebellion had collapsed. 00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:04.480 The men who had imagined themselves bringing down a government had been reduced to a handful of wounded fugitives in a besieged house. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:09.039 Catesby was dead, Percy was dead, the Wright brothers were dead. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:12.319 And the authorities now had the names of the men they wanted. 00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:15.519 The remaining fugitives were captured over the following days. 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:19.279 Thomas Bates and Robert Keyes were taken shortly after the siege. 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:23.519 Digby, who had apparently intended to surrender, was caught by pursuers. 00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:29.039 Francis Tresham was arrested on the 12th of November and taken to the tower three days later. 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:30.960 The investigation widened. 00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:35.839 People connected to the conspirators, their households and the Catholic community were questioned. 00:31:36.079 --> 00:31:40.880 Homes were searched, hidden passageways discovered, and servants interrogated. 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:49.279 The authorities were determined not simply to punish the men who had planned the explosion, but to establish whether anyone else had known about it or helped them. 00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:52.559 The consequences reached far beyond the original group. 00:31:52.720 --> 00:31:58.720 The home of Anne Vaux at Enfield Chase was searched, revealing trapdoors and concealed passages. 00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:03.279 The authorities also pursued priests who had been associated with some of the conspirators. 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:10.160 Catholic households came under suspicion, and the possessions of Mary Digby were ransacked, leaving her destitute. 00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:15.759 The discovery of the plot had created a wave of relief that the King and Parliament had survived. 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:19.599 It also gave the government an opportunity to strengthen its position. 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:24.880 In his speech to Parliament on the 9th of November, James made an important distinction. 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:31.759 He insisted that the plot had been the work of a small number of Catholics rather than English Catholics as a whole. 00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:39.920 He also presented his survival as an act of divine protection, reminding those assembled that kings were appointed by God. 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:43.200 But the distinction did not prevent suspicion spreading. 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:49.200 The government was now in possession of a conspiracy that could be used to justify tougher measures against Catholics. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:33:01.119 The question was no longer simply how the plot had been discovered, it was how many people might have been involved and how far the authorities could go in preventing anything similar from happening again. 00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:04.720 The interrogations continued at the Tower of London. 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:09.680 Sir Edward Coke was in charge of questioning those implicated in the conspiracy. 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:17.119 There is no clear evidence that torture was used during the first round of interrogations, although the threat of it was certainly made. 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:23.119 Coke later acknowledged that in many of the cases, the threat alone was enough to obtain confessions. 00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:31.920 Guy Falk's confession, dated the 8th of November, and Thomas Wintor's dated the 23rd of November were among the few published in full. 00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:35.920 Wintor's testimony was particularly valuable to the authorities. 00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:43.039 Unlike Fawkes, he had been involved from the beginning and could provide information about the planning and the other conspirators. 00:33:43.279 --> 00:33:51.200 The government published these accounts in an unofficial narrative known as the King's Book, which appeared in late November 1605. 00:33:52.559 --> 00:33:55.759 But the investigation was not without complications. 00:33:56.079 --> 00:34:02.960 Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, had been closely connected to Thomas Percy and had met him on the 4th of November. 00:34:03.119 --> 00:34:05.440 This placed him in a difficult position. 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:16.480 The authorities suspected that he might have been intended to act as protector to Princess Elizabeth if the plot had succeeded, but they lacked sufficient evidence to convict him of involvement.

00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:21.119 He remained imprisoned in the tower and was eventually charged with contempt. 00:34:21.280 --> 00:34:28.079 He was stripped of his public offices, fined£30,000, and remained in the tower until 1621. 00:34:28.559 --> 00:34:35.440 Other men were also questioned or detained, including Lord Montague, Lord Mordaunt, and Lord Staughton. 00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:40.400 Some were eventually released, others received fines or periods of imprisonment. 00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:43.519 The investigation also turned towards the Jesuits. 00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:48.639 Thomas Bates, one of Catesby's servants, made a confession on the 4th of December. 00:34:48.880 --> 00:34:53.199 His information helped the authorities connect Catholic priests with the conspiracy. 00:34:53.440 --> 00:34:58.639 He described meetings and journeys involving Father Garnett and Father Oswald Tesimond. 00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:03.599 Garnett, who had been trying to maintain his innocence, had moved to Hindlip Hall in Worcestershire. 00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:08.480 The authorities were searching for him, and his position was becoming increasingly dangerous. 00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:12.639 The pursuit of the priests continued into January 1606. 00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:17.039 Robert Wintor and Stephen Littleton were captured after hiding at Hagley. 00:35:17.280 --> 00:35:23.440 Their hiding place was eventually betrayed by a servant who had become suspicious of the amount of food being sent upstairs. 00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:29.920 The authorities also searched Hindlip Hall, where priests were concealed in hiding places built into the property. 00:35:30.159 --> 00:35:38.320 Two lay brothers, Nicholas Owen and Ralph Ashley, eventually emerged after several days, weakened by hunger and confinement. 00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:45.360 Henry Garnett was finally discovered on the 27th of January, having emerged from his hiding place with another priest. 00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:51.360 The surviving conspirators were now in custody, and the government was ready to bring them to trial. 00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:56.880 The trial took place at Westminster Hall on the 27th of January 1606. 00:35:57.199 --> 00:36:02.480 Seven prisoners were brought from the tower, while Thomas Bates was brought from the Gatehouse prison. 00:36:02.719 --> 00:36:06.559 Among those watching were the king and his family, hidden from view. 00:36:06.719 --> 00:36:13.280 The proceedings were overseen by senior figures of the law and government, including Sir John Popham and Sir Edward Koch. 00:36:13.679 --> 00:36:16.559 The accusations were presented in forceful terms. 00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:24.400 Coke described the conspiracy as an act of extraordinary wickedness and placed particular emphasis on the involvement of the Jesuits. 00:36:24.639 --> 00:36:34.079 He argued that the plot had been driven by Catholic clergy and condemned the possibility of the king, his family, and parliament being destroyed in one explosion. 00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:38.960 The prosecution also described the punishment awaiting those convicted of high treason. 00:36:39.280 --> 00:36:46.960 It was to be one of the most brutal sentences available under English law: hanging, drawing, and quartering. 00:36:47.199 --> 00:36:56.000 The condemned men would be dragged to the place of execution, hanged, cut down while still alive, disemboweled and dismembered. 00:36:56.159 --> 00:36:59.280 Their remains would then be displayed as a warning to others. 00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:04.880 It was a punishment designed not only to kill, but to humiliate and terrorize. 00:37:05.119 --> 00:37:08.159 The prisoners were given the opportunity to speak. 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:16.639 Ambrose Rookwood claimed that Catesby had drawn him into the conspiracy, describing his affection for him as greater than for any other man in the world. 00:37:16.880 --> 00:37:23.440 Thomas Wintell asked that he and his brothers be punished together, rather than his brother being spared at his expense. 00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:29.519 Fawkes explained his not guilty plea by saying that he did not understand every aspect of the indictment. 00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:35.440 Robert Keyes appeared to accept his fate, while Bates and Robert Wintell asked for mercy. 00:37:36.159 --> 00:37:39.920 Everard Digby, who was tried separately, pleaded guilty. 00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:48.800 He argued that the king had failed to honour promises of religious toleration and that his loyalty to Catesby and the Catholic cause had influenced his actions. 00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:54.400 He asked to be executed by the axe and appealed to the king for mercy for his young family. 00:37:54.639 --> 00:37:56.639 His arguments were rejected. 00:37:56.880 --> 00:38:00.320 The jury found the conspirators guilty of high treason. 00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:04.960 Henry Garnett faced a separate trial at Guild Hall on the 28th of March. 00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:09.519 He denied the charges against him but was found guilty and sentenced to death. 00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:12.559 The government had secured its convictions. 00:38:12.880 --> 00:38:15.119 Now came the executions. 00:38:15.760 --> 00:38:20.559 The executions took place over two days at the end of January 1606. 00:38:20.880 --> 00:38:30.719 On the 30th of January, Everard Dickby, Robert Wintour, John Grant, and Thomas Bates were dragged through the streets of London on wooden hurdles to St. 00:38:30.800 --> 00:38:32.079 Paul's churchyard. 00:38:32.320 --> 00:38:34.880 Digby was the first to face the scaffold. 00:38:35.039 --> 00:38:39.840 He asked the crowd for forgiveness and refused the offer of a Protestant clergyman. 00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:43.679 The punishment was carried out according to the sentence for high treason. 00:38:43.920 --> 00:38:50.480 The men were hanged, cut down, and subjected to the brutal process of disembowelment and quartering. 00:38:50.639 --> 00:39:01.840 The following day, Thomas Wintor,

Ambrose Rookwood, Robert Keyes, and Guy Fawkes were taken to Old Palace Yard at Westminster, close to the very building they had intended to destroy. 00:39:02.079 --> 00:39:05.360 Keys jumped from the gallows before the hangman gave the command. 00:39:05.519 --> 00:39:08.079 He survived the fall and was taken to the block. 00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:12.800 Fawkes, weakened by his imprisonment and torture, also jumped. 00:39:13.039 --> 00:39:17.760 This time he broke his neck, avoiding the remainder of the execution. 00:39:18.079 --> 00:39:23.119 It was a grim ending for the man whose name would become synonymous with the entire conspiracy. 00:39:23.440 --> 00:39:28.639 Catesby and Percy, who had died at Holbeach House, were not spared the public humiliation. 00:39:28.800 --> 00:39:35.119 Their bodies were exhumed and decapitated, and their heads displayed on spikes outside the House of Lords. 00:39:35.360 --> 00:39:39.519 Henry Garnett was executed on the 3rd of May 1606. 00:39:39.920 --> 00:39:45.199 The men who had planned to destroy Parliament had been killed, imprisoned, or publicly condemned. 00:39:45.360 --> 00:39:50.400 Their attempt to change the religious and political direction of England had ended in failure. 00:39:50.639 --> 00:39:56.400 But the consequences of the gunpowder plot would last far longer than the lives of the conspiratives. 00:39:56.639 --> 00:40:04.239 The discovery of the conspiracy brought immediate relief to the government and a renewed determination to strengthen laws against Catholics. 00:40:04.480 --> 00:40:10.559 In the summer of 1606, Parliament passed legislation that increased restrictions on recusance. 00:40:10.719 --> 00:40:22.800 The measures reinstated fines and introduced an oath of allegiance requiring Catholics to reject the idea that a monarch excommunicated by the Pope could lawfully be deposed or assassinated. 00:40:22.960 --> 00:40:27.199 The hope of greater religious tolerance had been dealt a severe blow. 00:40:27.360 --> 00:40:31.119 Yet the historical picture was not entirely straightforward. 00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:42.639 Although the plot intensified suspicion and persecution, James's reign was still described as a period of relative leniency for Catholics, compared with some of their earlier periods. 00:40:42.800 --> 00:40:48.960 There was no golden age of toleration, but neither did every Catholic face the same fate. 00:40:49.199 --> 00:40:52.239 The plot also entered the cultural imagination. 00:40:52.480 --> 00:41:05.039 William Shakespeare's Macbeth, written sometime between 1603 and 1607, appears to reflect the atmosphere surrounding the gunpowder plot, alongside an earlier conspiracy known as the Gowrie Affair. 00:41:05.280 --> 00:41:14.480 Its references to equivocation and the uncertain boundary between truth and deception have often been considered in the context of the events of 1605. 00:41:14.880 --> 00:41:23.599 The plot had made people think about treachery, hidden intentions, and the

possibility that evil could disguise itself behind respectable appearances. 00:41:23.840 --> 00:41:26.239 And then there was the annual commemoration. 00:41:26.480 --> 00:41:37.280 In January 1606, Parliament passed the observance of the 5th of November Act, making services of thanksgiving for the failure of the plot an annual feature of English life. 00:41:37.519 --> 00:41:40.400 The Act remained in force until 1859. 00:41:40.639 --> 00:41:47.119 The tradition of marking the date with church bells and bonfires began soon after the conspiracy was discovered. 00:41:47.360 --> 00:41:51.039 Fireworks were included in some of the earliest celebrations. 00:41:51.760 --> 00:41:57.199 The occasion became known as Bonfire Night, Fireworks Night, or Guy Forks Night. 00:41:57.440 --> 00:42:04.320 Children traditionally made effigy of forks from old clothes stuffed with newspapers, often adding a crude mask. 00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:11.039 These figures, known as guys, were displayed to collect money for fireworks before being thrown onto the bonfires. 00:42:11.280 --> 00:42:19.599 The word guy eventually ended in everyday language, first referring to an oddly dressed person, and later becoming a general term for a man. 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:21.840 There's an extraordinary legacy. 00:42:22.079 --> 00:42:28.719 A failed attempt to destroy Parliament became the basis for one of Britain's most familiar annual celebrations. 00:42:29.119 --> 00:42:34.800 Every year, fireworks recreate the spectacle of an explosion that never happened. 00:42:35.119 --> 00:42:41.119 Bonfires burn, effigies are thrown onto the flames, and the old rhyme is repeated. 00:42:41.760 --> 00:42:45.519 Remember, remember the 5th of November. 00:42:45.760 --> 00:42:53.360 Gunpowder, treason, and plot, for I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. 00:42:53.679 --> 00:43:01.039 But the history behind the rhyme is more complicated than the familiar image of one man with a beard and a bundle of explosives. 00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:04.880 And there are still questions that have never been answered. 00:43:05.519 --> 00:43:11.840 One of the most persistent questions surrounding the gunpowder plot concerns the anonymous letter sent to Lord Monteagle. 00:43:12.239 --> 00:43:13.280 Who wrote it? 00:43:13.599 --> 00:43:20.239 Francis Tresham has frequently been suspected, but no conclusive proof has established that he actually was responsible. 00:43:20.480 --> 00:43:27.199 Other theories have suggested that Monteagle himself or Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, may have been involved in some way. 00:43:27.360 --> 00:43:31.840 There have also been accusations that the government knew more about the conspiracy than it admitted. 00:43:32.079 --> 00:43:43.599 Some people at the time suspected Salisbury of allowing the plot to continue or even helping to engineer its discovery so that he could gain favour with the king and strengthen anti Catholic legislation. 00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:54.559

These theories have endured and later writers attempted to build a case against him, but the historical account records that attempts to prove his involvement have not produced clear evidence. 00:43:55.760 --> 00:43:58.559 It is important to separate suspicion from proof. 00:43:58.719 --> 00:44:02.239 The fact that the government Benefited politically from the discovery. 00:44:02.480 --> 00:44:06.400 Well, it doesn't by itself demonstrate that it created the conspiracy. 00:44:06.639 --> 00:44:10.079 There is no evidence that Salisbury actually invented the plot. 00:44:10.320 --> 00:44:18.559 The most reasonable conclusion is that the conspiracy was real, the men involved were real, and the plan to destroy Parliament was genuine. 00:44:18.800 --> 00:44:27.840 But the precise circumstances surrounding the warning letter and what certain government figures knew before the final search remained subject to debate. 00:44:28.079 --> 00:44:30.480 There is another question worth considering. 00:44:30.719 --> 00:44:33.440 What would have happened if the plot had succeeded? 00:44:33.760 --> 00:44:40.719 Historian Ronald Hutton had argued that a successful explosion would probably have produced a severe backlash against Catholics. 00:44:40.960 --> 00:44:45.119 Without foreign assistance, a successful religion would have been unlikely. 00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:52.880 Rather than creating the Catholic regime Catesby imagined, the plot might have led to an even more repressive political settlement. 00:44:53.119 --> 00:44:59.920 In other words, the conspiracy may have been preparing to unleash consequences they could never have controlled. 00:45:00.079 --> 00:45:04.880 And there is one final detail that brings us back to the physical reality of the plan. 00:45:05.519 --> 00:45:15.280 In 2005, an ITV programme, the Gunpowder Plot, Exploding the Legend, attempted to establish what the explosion might actually have done. 00:45:15.519 --> 00:45:21.840 A full-size replica of the House of Lords was constructed, and one tonne of gunpowder was used in the experiment. 00:45:22.159 --> 00:45:24.159 The results were devastating. 00:45:24.320 --> 00:45:27.039 The blast destroyed the replica chamber. 00:45:27.199 --> 00:45:33.360 The end wall beneath the throne was reduced to rubble, while the surviving sections of the structure were pushed outwards. 00:45:33.599 --> 00:45:39.360 A piece of the dummy representing King James was thrown a considerable distance from where it had been placed. 00:45:39.599 --> 00:45:47.119 The experiment concluded that nobody inside the chamber would have survived if the powder had been in good condition. 00:45:47.360 --> 00:45:56.320 It also suggested that people within around 100 meters of the explosion would have been killed, with windows in Westminster Abbey shattered by the force. 00:45:56.559 --> 00:46:01.360 Even deteriorated gunpowder produced a substantial explosion during the test. 00:46:01.599 --> 00:46:06.960 The wooden barrels would have helped contain the blast, magnifying its destructive force. 00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:13.679 The experiment demonstrated something that can become lost beneath centuries of firework rhymes and familiar images. 00:46:13.920 --> 00:46:18.960 The gunpowder plot was not simply a theatrical scheme involving a man with a match. 00:46:19.119 --> 00:46:23.199 It was a plan for mass murder on an extraordinary scale. 00:46:23.440 --> 00:46:31.440 Had it succeeded, the people inside Parliament would have been killed, including the King, his family, and members of both houses. 00:46:31.679 --> 00:46:41.039 The political consequences could have been enormous, and the lives of countless people beyond Westminster might have been changed by the violence that followed. 00:46:41.360 --> 00:46:43.760 Guy Fawkes was not the mastermind. 00:46:44.000 --> 00:46:48.239 He was the man assigned to guard the gunpowder and light the fuse. 00:46:48.559 --> 00:46:54.559 But it was his arrest in the Undercroft that gave the conspiracy its most recognizable face. 00:46:54.719 --> 00:46:59.920 When the fireworks begin and the bonfires are lit, that face returns. 00:47:00.239 --> 00:47:04.960 Because the story of the 5th of November is not just about a plot that failed. 00:47:05.199 --> 00:47:19.519 It is about religious persecution, political desperation, secret loyalties, betrayal, and a group of men who believed that the destruction of their country's government was justified by the cause they served. 00:47:19.760 --> 00:47:24.239 They came close enough to make the authorities fear what might have happened. 00:47:24.480 --> 00:47:26.239 But they did not succeed. 00:47:26.480 --> 00:47:31.599 And that is why, more than four centuries later, we still remember. 00:47:32.159 --> 00:47:49.440 And so, as November rolls around each year, we drag out the fireworks, light the bonfires, burn a rather unfortunate-looking effigy of Guy Fawkes, and remind ourselves to remember, remember, the 5th of November. 00:47:49.840 --> 00:47:52.719 Although, spare a thought for poor Guy. 00:47:52.960 --> 00:48:00.800 More than 400 years after his arrest, he's still being dragged out once a year, set on fire, and blamed for the whole thing. 00:48:01.039 --> 00:48:08.079 Meanwhile, Robert Catesby, the actual mastermind, has largely escaped the annual celebrity treatment. 00:48:08.320 --> 00:48:10.159 Not quite fair, is it? 00:48:10.480 --> 00:48:13.280 But perhaps that's the strangest part of this story. 00:48:13.599 --> 00:48:30.320 A plot involving religious persecution, political ambition, secret meetings, betrayal, and enough gunpowder to turn Parliament into a rather expensive pile of rubble has somehow become a family night out involving sparklers and toffee apples. 00:48:30.719 --> 00:48:46.960 History does have a peculiar sense of humour, so next time you're standing beside a bonfire, watching a guy go up in flames, remember that beneath the fireworks and the familiar rhyme lies a much, much darker story. 00:48:47.199 --> 00:48:55.440 One of desperation, fantasism, and a plan that came frighteningly close to changing the course of British history. 00:48:55.679 --> 00:49:01.679 And if you happen to hear a strange noise beneath the houses of Parliament, don't panic. 00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:11.199 It's probably just the ghosts of the conspirators wondering why, after all that planning, they never even got to light the match. 00:49:12.079 --> 00:49:14.320 This has been the eclectic. 00:49:14.639 --> 00:49:22.000 Stay curious, stay questioning, and as always, stay eclectic.