In 16th-century England, the two branches of Christianity – Protestantism and Catholicism – were locked in a fierce confrontation. King Henry VIII, in order to break with the Holy See, brought the Church of England under his control, while at the same time vigorously promoting the Protestant Reformation and suppressing the Catholic faith (1533-1540). This caused strong resistance and discontent among Catholics.
Henry VIII's daughter, Elizabeth I, succeeded to the throne, and she instituted the Queen Elizabeth Religious Solution, which forced all clergy to pledge allegiance to the monarch or face punishment and possibly imprisonment or death. In this way, the authority of Catholicism was weakened by the royal power, and the discontent of Catholics was even deeper. After Elizabeth I's death, her successor, James I, followed her policy. A group of extreme Catholics decided to resort to violence, blowing up the Houses of Parliament with gunpowder, killing the king and most of the members of the House of Lords, and then making the king's daughter Elizabeth the Catholic queen. This conspiracy, known as the Gunpowder Scheme, was planned by Robert Gatsby and executed by Guy Fox.
Their original plan was to dig a tunnel in a basement next to the Capitol that would lead to the basement of the Capitol. However, they were later lucky enough to rent it in the basement of the Capitol, where they were filled with 36 barrels (about 2.).5 tons) of gunpowder, pretending to be a heating item for the winter. They planned to detonate the gunpowder on November 5, 1605, but before that, on October 26, an anonymous letter was written to a Catholic senator, Montig, warning him not to attend Parliament. Montig handed the letter to Cabinet Secretary Robert Cecil.
Guy Fox remained in the basement to guard the gunpowder, while the other conspirators fled to Dungeck, Warwickshire, to await news. Cecil informed King James I, and he sent a Justice of the Peace named Thomas Nevit to lead the guards and raid the Capitol in the early hours of 5 November. They searched all the basements, found gunpowder and Guy Fawkes, and arrested him. Guy Fawkes confessed the names of the other conspirators under torture, for which King James I signed a special order allowing them to be tortured. Gatsby was shot dead when he was killed, and the other conspirators were quick to do so and were sentenced to death after the trial.
The failure of the Gunpowder Conspiracy had serious consequences for the Catholic Church in England. It led to a total ban on the affirmative action movement for Catholics, who could only attain equality after 200 years. Some scholars believe that this conspiracy also inspired William Shakespeare to write the tragedy Macbeth.