How the Gunpowder Plot unravelled

Welcome to the History Extra podcast, fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History magazine. In the autumn of 1605, the conspirators behind the gunpowder plot believed they were on the verge of striking a blow that would shake England to its core, but then a single mysteriously written letter changed everything. I'm Danny Byrd, and for this four-part history extra series on the Gunpowder plot, I'm joined by historian Professor John Cooper from the University of York. In this second episode, we followed the dramatic unraveling of the plot, from the discovery of Guy Fawkes beneath the Palace of Westminster to the desperate flight of the remaining conspirators and their bloody last stand. We'll also see how the trials and executions that followed were staged to send a chilling message about loyalty, treason, and the power of the state.

In late October 1605, the Catholic nobleman William Parker, Barrymont Eagle, received a mysterious letter warning him to stay away from the state opening of Parliament scheduled for the 5th of November. What is the significance of that letter, and who do historian think wrote it? The Monteagle letter is really significant because it it blows the existence of the gunpowder plot. I mean, it's a letter, a mysterious letter to this Catholic peer, Lord Monteagal, basically warning him to stay away from Parliament because something awful is going to happen. So the question is, who wrote that letter?

And there are lots of different possibilities as to who wrote that letter. If you're in the mind of a conspiracy theorist, it could be that the letter itself is fabricated by the government in order to justify the further repression of Catholics. I mean if you want to believe that then then the whole gunpowder plot is itself a kind of fabrication of the government. And there is a line of of interpretation that claims that.

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