The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against King James I by a group of English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who considered their actions attempted tyrannicide and who sought regime change in England after decades of religious persecution.
Robert Catesby was the leader of a group of English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
William Catesby was one of Richard III of England's principal councillors. He also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Speaker of the House of Commons during Richard's reign. The Catesbys’ medieval wealth derived from livestock and the zenith of their political achievement came during his career.
Gayhurst is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) NNW of Newport Pagnell, and 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Central Milton Keynes.
Robert Wintour and Thomas Wintour, also spelt Winter, were members of the Gunpowder Plot, a failed conspiracy to assassinate King James I. Brothers, they were related to other conspirators, such as their cousin, Robert Catesby, and a half-brother, John Wintour, also joined them following the plot's failure. Thomas was an intelligent and educated man, fluent in several languages and trained as a lawyer, but chose instead to become a soldier, fighting for England in the Low Countries, France, and possibly in Central Europe. By 1600, however, he changed his mind and became a fervent Catholic. On several occasions he travelled to the continent and entreated Spain on behalf of England's oppressed Catholics, and suggested that with Spanish support a Catholic rebellion was likely.
Sir Everard Digby was a member of the group of provincial members of the English nobility who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Although he was raised in an Anglican household and married a Protestant, Digby and his wife were secretly received into the strictly illegal and underground Catholic Church in England by the Jesuit priest Fr. John Gerard. In the autumn of 1605, he made a Christian pilgrimage to the shrine of St Winefride's Well in Holywell, Wales. About this time, he met Robert Catesby, who was planning to blow up the House of Lords with gunpowder as an alleged act of tyrannicide and a decapitation strike against King James I. Catesby then planned to lead a popular uprising aimed at regime change, through which a Catholic monarch would be placed upon the English throne.
Ashby St Ledgers is a village in the West Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England. The post town is Rugby in Warwickshire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 173. The Manor House is famous for being a location for the planning of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. As of 2023, the property had been restored and could be rented for a fee.
Stoke Dry is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, about three miles (5 km) southwest of Uppingham.
Lapworth is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, which had a population of 2,100 according to the 2001 census; this had fallen to 1,828 at the 2011 Census. It lies seven miles (11 km) south of Solihull and ten miles (16 km) northwest of Warwick, and incorporates the hamlet of Kingswood. Lapworth boasts a historic church, the Church of St Mary the Virgin, a chapel. Two National Trust sites are nearby: Baddesley Clinton, a medieval moated manor house and garden located in the village of Baddesley Clinton; and Packwood House, a Tudor manor house and yew garden with over 100 trees in Packwood.
Maxstoke Castle is a privately owned moated castle dating from the 14th century, situated to the north of Maxstoke in Warwickshire, England.
Thomas Bates was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
John Grant was a member of the failed Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to replace the Protestant King James I of England with a Catholic monarch. Grant was born around 1570, and lived at Norbrook in Warwickshire. He married the sister of another plotter, Thomas Wintour. Grant was enlisted by Robert Catesby, a religious zealot who had grown so impatient with James's lack of toleration for Catholics that he planned to kill him, by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder. Grant's role in the conspiracy was to provide supplies for a planned Midlands uprising, during which James's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, would be captured. However, on the eve of the planned explosion, Guy Fawkes was discovered guarding the explosives the plotters had positioned in the undercroft beneath the House of Lords, and arrested.
Humphrey Littleton, or Humphrey Lyttelton, was a member of the Lyttelton family, who was executed for his involvement in the Gunpowder plot. Robert Wintour and Stephen Littleton who had escaped from the fight at Holbeche House were captured at Hagley Park on 9 January 1606 despite Littleton's protests that he was not harbouring anyone. It was Littleton who told the authorities that Edward Oldcorne was hiding at Hindlip Hall after he had given him mass. Wintour, Oldcorne, and both Littletons were all executed.
Sandon Hall is a 19th-century country mansion, the seat of the Earl of Harrowby, at Sandon, Staffordshire, 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Stafford. It is a Grade II* listed building set in 400 acres (1.6 km2) of parkland.
Hugglescote is a village on the River Sence in North West Leicestershire, England. The village is about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the centre of Coalville, and its built-up area is now contiguous with the town.
Gayhurst House is a late-Elizabethan country house in Buckinghamshire. It is located near the village of Gayhurst, several kilometres north of Milton Keynes. The earliest house dates from the 1520s. In 1597 it was greatly expanded by William Moulsoe. His son-in-law, Everard Digby, completed the rebuilding, prior to his execution in 1606 for participating in the Gunpowder Plot. The house was subsequently owned by the Wrightes, and latterly the Carringtons. Robert Carrington engaged William Burges who undertook much remodelling of both the house and the estate, although his plans for Gayhurst were more extensive still. In the 20th century, the Carringtons sold the house, although retaining much of the surrounding estate. It is now divided into flats, with further housing in the surrounding estate buildings.
Donington le Heath is a village on the River Sence just over 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the centre of Coalville in North West Leicestershire. Donington is contiguous with the village of Hugglescote immediately to the east. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Hugglescote and Donington le Heath.
Kenelm Digby of Stoke Dry, Rutland was an English politician. He was first elected MP for Stamford in 1539 and Sheriff of Rutland in 1541.
Sir John Spencer was an English nobleman who was widely admired, in his time, for his administration of the family estates. He inherited large estates in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, and increased his lands and fortunes extensively. Spencer was also a politician, who served as member of parliament for several years, and was known for his support of Whig issues. He was also the 13th Great Grandfather of British soldier and prime minister, Winston Churchill.
St Andrew's Church is a church in Stoke Dry, Rutland. It is a Grade I listed building.
