The people involved in the Gunpowder Plot were a mixture of courtiers, gentlemen, soldiers and a servant, but were all Catholic. They did not suddenly decide to take action, the idea of killing an unjust ruler had been considered for sometime and as it had not been explicitly denounced by the Pope, the plotters believed they had his support. They also hoped that Catholic Spain, an old enemy of Protestant England, would step in to help; in fact a certain Guido Fawkes had been dispatched to Spain to discuss such aid. However, the signing of the Anglo-Spanish peace treaty in August 1604 killed off any hope of help from abroad. Now alone, the plotters were forced to act.

The main conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot had been involved in political uprisings before. Robert Catesby, Francis Treasham, Jack Wright and Thomas Wintour had all been involved in the ‘Essex uprising’ of February 1601. They hoped to seize power at court and take control of the old and frail Queen Elizabeth, but they failed miserably and the Earl of Essex was executed and Catesby fined three thousand pounds, forcing him to sell his home. It was in late 1604 that Catesby, now desperate as all sources of help had dried up, hatched the plot to destroy the present government, kill the king and replace him with his young daughter Elizabeth.

Many of the plotters were related to each other, either by birth or by marriage, which meant that they felt that they could trust each other more.

Robert Catesby was the originator of the plot, which was to blow up Parliament and the king in order to overthrow the government. The first person to agree to help was his cousin, Thomas Wintour, and the swordsman Jack Wright. Thomas was sent to the continent to drum up support, whilst there he was introduced to Guido Fawkes, who had been serving as a mercenary soldier in the Anglo- Spanish Wars in the Netherlands. In April 1604 and he was introduced to Catesby. Wright's brother-in-law, Thomas Percy, joined them a few weeks later.

On 20th May 1604 a meeting was held between these five main conspirators, They swore an oath on a prayer book and, as it was a Sunday, celebrated mass with father John Gerard.

On June 9th 1604 Thomas Percy was made a gentlemen pensioner and rented a house near Westminster, with Guido Fawkes installed as a servant. During the summer many priests were executed, Fines re-imposed and in September the king formed a committee to exterminate Jesuits.

By October a sixth member joined the band, Robert Keyes. His first cousin, Elizabeth, was married to a rich young Catholic called Ambrose Rookwood. He was asked by Catesby to buy gunpowder and have it delivered to his house in London where Guido was resident. Towards the end of the year Catesby's servant, Thomas Bates, who had grown suspicious, was welcomed into the conspiracy.

Because of plague in London, the re-opening of Parliament was put back from February to October. This gave the plotters more time to plan. They also gained new members. Robert Wintour, the elder brother of Thomas, John Grant, who had married their sister, and Kit (Christopher) Wright, brother of Jack, all joined the conspirators.

John Grant's house, a few miles north of Stratford in Warwickshire, was perfectly located for a second part of the plot. This was to kidnap the young Princess Elizabeth from Coombe Abbey, near Coventry.

The house rented by Percy, was actually attached to the house of Lords and across the River from Catesby's house. On the ground floor, directly under the Lords, lay a series of storerooms. One was rented and the plotters proceeded to fill it with gunpowder.

On 28th July it was announced that, as plague still lingered, parliament would not meet until Tuesday 5th November.

In August a meeting was held and the plotters decided they needed more members. One of them was Catesby's cousin Francis Tresham who was approached on 14th October.

On 21st October 1605, the last plotter was approached. Everard Digby, a recent convert and wealthy young man, was approached by Catesby. He was asked to rent Coughton Court in Warwickshire and to gather together armed gentlemen with horses for an unspecified 'great deed'. It is possible that Digby was kept in the dark about his role in the plot, being led to believe that the gentlemen were going to join some invasion force on their way to liberate England. He was also wrongly informed that the Jesuits had given their blessing to the venture, it seems likely he would not have agreed if he knew the true nature of the plot.

The plan was now finalised in several meetings in taverns across the south. Guido Fawkes was to light the fuse in the storeroom below the house of lords whilst the king opened parliament. He would then make his escape and seek refuge with Albert and Isabella, Spain's regents in the Netherlands. At the same time there would be an uprising in the Midlands and Elizabeth would be secured as a puppet Queen.

Then on 26th October the plot was put into peril. An anonymous letter was delivered to Lord Mounteagle, a relative of Francis Tresham, warning him not to attend parliament. The news got back to Catesby and he accused Tresham of sending it. He denied this but urged them to abandon the plot and flee.

Technically Torture was illegal (it is prohibited in Magna Carta) except in circumstances where treason was suspected. During this period the number of people suspected of treason made torture quite common.

The king ordered the torture of Fawkes after he had revealed nothing in two days of questioning. The king commanded that the gentler tortures be used first, then proceeding to the worst if the 'iron man' did not weaken.

He was first held in manacles. These were iron clasps that held the prisoner by the wrist and were tightened gradually. They were used to suspend the prisoner in mid air for several hours or more.

This method failed on Fawkes and he was attached to the rack. There was only one of these in England and it was housed in the Bloody Tower. The prisoner was attached to the rack by hands and feet and then slowly stretched. It caused permanent damage, often dislocating joints and the spine and was so feared that usually just the sight of it would force the prisoner to confess. Fawkes was tough, however, and it is reported that he was severely racked in the first few days, they had broken his body long before they broke his spirit. They are reported to have broken him by November 7th. By the time he signed his confession he could barely write.

On November 8th , as Fawkes was preparing to give his confession, some of the plotters were now under siege at Holbeach House, Staffordshire. Digby, Bates and Robert Wintour had vanished - presumably to give themselves up. The house was surrounded by two hundred men, Tom Wintour was shot in the arm then Jack and Kit Wright and Rookwood fell. Now Catesby, Percy and a wounded Tom Wintour and the blinded John Grant (they had foolishly exploded some of their own gunpowder whilst drying it) made a last stand. Percy and Catesby were both hit by the same shot and the attackers charged in. Robert Catesby, Jack and Kit Wright and Thomas Percy were now dead, John Grant, Abrose Rookwood and Thomas Wintour were captured.

On 30th January 1606, all of the surviving conspirators having been found guilty of Treason, The executions began. The first four to be brought out from their cells in the Tower of London were Sir Everard Digby, Robert Wintour, John Grant and Thomas Bates. The condemned men were strapped to wicker hurdles and dragged to the site of their execution, outside St Paul's Cathedral, behind horses.

Digby went to the scaffold first knowing what awaited him. After praying and crossing himself he spoke calmly and civilly to his former friends and addressed the huge crowd of Londoners claiming he had broken the law but that the plot had not been an offence to his conscience or his religion.

He was then hung by the neck for a short time while his private parts were cut off and burned in front of him. He was then cut down and cut open. His entrails were taken out while he was still conscious and finally his heart was cut out and held up by the executioner who exclaimed "Behold the heart of a traitor". Digby (who at this stage must have been dead) is reputed to have then said "Thou liest".

Robert Wintour went to the scaffold next but said little before his death.

John Grant, however, strongly denied any offence as it had been no sin against God.

In his blinded state he allowed himself to be taken to his grisly death.

Thomas Bates, Catesby's servant was, it seems, truly sorry for what he had done and begged for forgiveness, claiming that he had acted through devotion to his master. He publicly prayed for forgiveness from God, the King and the whole kingdom before he was also executed.

The following day the last four conspirators, Thomas Wintour, Ambrose Rookwood, Robert Keyes and Guido Fawkes were drawn, hung and quartered in the same way, but outside Westminster Palace which they had tried to blow up.

Wintour suffered the full, horrible death having made a short but defiant speech.

Rookwood was very repentant and the hangman let him swing longer than the rest so he was all but dead when cut down and quartered.

Keyes made no speech and boldly leapt of the scaffold in the hope of breaking his neck but instead the gallows broke and he was taken fully conscious to the quartering table.

Guido Fawkes could barely stand after his prolonged torture and was helped into the noose. He did ask for forgiveness but continued to pray in a Catholic manner. He was fortunate in that his neck did break in the initial hanging as he was dead before he was quartered.

The heads of all eight victims were cut off and displayed on stakes for public viewing.

Digby: The Gunpowder Plotter's Legacy - an external site with information about the Digby family and their role in the plot