Shakespeare A to Z | Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot was a failed conspiracy to assassinate King JAMES I, the Scottish king of England. James was a Protestant, and he had attempted to halt the spread of Catholicism when he came to the throne in 1603. Two years later a group of Catholic dissidents*, including a man named Guy Fawkes, laid plans to blow up the Parliament building on November 5, when James would be there to open a new session. The conspirators had rented space in the cellar beneath the structure and had packed it with gunpowder. The scheme was discovered at the last minute, and the conspirators were promptly...
[The entire page is 246 words long]