What is Gunpowder Plot?
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} [[File:Gunpow1.jpg|thumb|right|320px|Contemporary sketch of the terrorists by [[Crispijn van de Passe]]]] The '''Gunpowder Conspiracy ''' of 1605 was a plan to [[Assassination|assassinate]] King [[James I of England|James I of England and VI of Scotland]]. Other names for the plot are '''The Powder Treason''' or '''The Gunpowder Plot'''.<ref>Antonia Fraser, ''The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605'', London, 2002, Author's Note, pg. xv. {{ISBN|0-7538-1401-3}}</ref> A group of [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholics]] wanted to blow up the [[Palace of Westminster|Houses of Parliament]] during the [[State Opening of Parliament]] on 5 November 1605. This would have killed the king, and most of the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[aristocracy]]. The conspirators also planned to kidnap the royal children,<ref>Alice Hogge (2005), ''God's Secret Agents: Queen Elizabeth's Forbidden Priests and the Hatching of the Gunpowder Plot'' HarperCollins p.344</ref> and lead a popular revolt in the [[English Midlands|Midlands]]. == Origins == [[File:JamesIEngland.jpg|thumb|upright|left|King [[James I of England|James I of England and VI of Scotland]]]] [[Robert Catesby]] led the planning of the [[conspiracy]], which started in May 1604. The people who helped him were either rich Catholics, or [[gentry]] families who had a lot of influence. Catesby may have come up with the plot when he saw that there was little hope that Great Britain would become more [[wikt:tolerant|tolerant]] to Roman Catholics, under King James I. Many Catholics were disappointed about the situation. It is more likely though that Catesby simply wanted to give the Catholics in England a chance: The plot was to be the first step of a [[rebellion]]. Afterwards, James' nine-year-old daughter ([[Elizabeth of Bohemia|Princess Elizabeth]]) could be put in as a Catholic [[head of state]]. Other plotters were [[Thomas Wintour|Thomas Winter]] (also spelled Wintour), [[Robert Wintour|Robert Winter]], [[John Wright (Gunpowder Plot)|John