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<v Speaker 1>Hello, and Welcome to Western SIV, episode three nineteen The

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<v Speaker 1>Gunpowder Plot. Puritans, it turned out, weren't the only discontented

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<v Speaker 1>religious group in England. There were still Catholics. Angry Catholics.

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<v Speaker 1>James wooed them in the event that he needed their support,

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<v Speaker 1>but after his coronation he felt confident enough to promptly

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<v Speaker 1>discard them. As a consequence, in February sixteen oh four,

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<v Speaker 1>James banished the remaining Jesuit priests from England defervent Catholics.

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<v Speaker 1>This was an ominous sign. One such young Catholic was

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<v Speaker 1>Thomas Winter, who had already appealed unsuccessfully to fill up

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<v Speaker 1>the third for support. In the same month that James

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<v Speaker 1>banished the Jesuits, he met with his cousin Robert Catesby.

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<v Speaker 1>The plot the two concocted became known as the Gunpowder Plot,

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<v Speaker 1>though the plot is often associated with its third member,

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<v Speaker 1>Guy Fox. In April, Winter traveled to Flanders, from which

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<v Speaker 1>place he brought back Fox himself. Now they're basically called

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<v Speaker 1>the conspirators in all of our sources. In the following month,

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<v Speaker 1>an oath of secrecy was sworn before they made their

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<v Speaker 1>way to a house behind the Church of Saint Clement's, Eastcheap,

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<v Speaker 1>where they met a Jesuit by the name of Gerrard,

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<v Speaker 1>who administered to them the holy sacrament. It was now

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<v Speaker 1>agreed that a house conveniently close to Parliament needed to

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<v Speaker 1>be found, but it wasn't until the beginning of December

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<v Speaker 1>that a suitable property became available. On the eleventh of

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<v Speaker 1>the month they entered the house, carrying with them a

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<v Speaker 1>stock of hard boiled eggs and baked meats. By Christmas Eve,

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<v Speaker 1>the conspirators had dug their way down and, in the

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<v Speaker 1>words of Thomas Winter Quote, wrought under a little entry

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<v Speaker 1>to the wall of Parliament House and under propped it

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<v Speaker 1>as we went with wood end quote. They believed the

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<v Speaker 1>next session of Parliament would begin in February sixteen o five,

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<v Speaker 1>but now they learned that it had been pirogued until

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<v Speaker 1>the following October. That gave them more time. The gunpowder

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<v Speaker 1>in question was being stored at Catesbury's lodging in Lambeth,

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<v Speaker 1>but under conditions of great secrecy and security, it was

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<v Speaker 1>ultimately brought to the House at Westminster. They had already

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<v Speaker 1>made some progress in penetrating the nine foot wall that

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<v Speaker 1>separated the House of Parliament, but their work was impeded

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<v Speaker 1>by an influx of water. They're basically digging next to

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<v Speaker 1>the Thames. One day, soon after the gunpowder had been acquired,

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<v Speaker 1>they heard a rustling sound above their head. Fox went

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<v Speaker 1>outdoor and was cautiously investigating. There he was met by

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<v Speaker 1>Ellen Bright, a coal merchant, who informed him that she

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<v Speaker 1>was leaving the premises. It so happened that her seller

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<v Speaker 1>or vault ran directly under the House of Parliament itself,

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<v Speaker 1>and only took a few minutes, and the two reached

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<v Speaker 1>a deal to acquire this new lodging. An iron gate

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<v Speaker 1>between the basement of the conspirator's house and missus Bright's

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<v Speaker 1>seller was opened, and Fox was quickly able to smuggle

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<v Speaker 1>about thirty six barrels of gunpowder into the neighboring vault.

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<v Speaker 1>It was enough gunpowder to kill thousands of people. By September,

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<v Speaker 1>fresh barrels of gunpower were acquired in order to replace

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<v Speaker 1>those that had been affected by the damp, but funds

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<v Speaker 1>were running low and everyone agreed that they needed to

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<v Speaker 1>bring in three other conspirators with money or property. Thirteen

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<v Speaker 1>men by this time had been discussed in secret, leaving

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<v Speaker 1>thirteen ways for the secret to be betrayed. Now, one

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<v Speaker 1>of the new conspirators, Francis Tresham, had a brother in law,

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<v Speaker 1>Lord Monteagle, and he was actually part of the House

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<v Speaker 1>of Lords. Terrisham desperately wanted his brother in law to

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<v Speaker 1>be spared from the conflagration. Meegel was a staunch Catholic

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<v Speaker 1>who had already defended the church in the House of Lords.

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<v Speaker 1>The other conspirators, however, weren't sure about making exceptions however

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<v Speaker 1>well meant. Monteagle was sitting down for dinner on the

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<v Speaker 1>twenty sixth of October at his house when a letter

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<v Speaker 1>was suddenly brought in by a messenger. He glanced at

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<v Speaker 1>it and then requested one of his gentlemen to read

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<v Speaker 1>it aloud. It read as follows, my Lord, out of belove,

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<v Speaker 1>I bear you of your friends. I have a care

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<v Speaker 1>of your preservation. Therefore, I would advise you, as you

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<v Speaker 1>tender your life, to devise some excuse to shift of

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<v Speaker 1>your attendance at this parliament. So the letter began. The

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<v Speaker 1>correspondence went on to warn that there will be a

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<v Speaker 1>terrible blow this parliament, yet no one will know who

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<v Speaker 1>struck it. Now Monteagle immediately set out for Whitehall with

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<v Speaker 1>the letter in hand. He may have been a Catholic,

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<v Speaker 1>but he was also an Englishman. He came down to

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<v Speaker 1>see Robert Cecil, the newly created Earl of Salisbury, and

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<v Speaker 1>took Salisbury into an adjoining room, showing him the document.

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<v Speaker 1>Cecil was inclined at first to dismiss this matter as

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<v Speaker 1>a false alarm, but on consulting his colleagues, the possibility

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<v Speaker 1>of a gunpowder explosion as the quote unquote terrible blow

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<v Speaker 1>was discussed. Now the King was a hunting at Royston,

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<v Speaker 1>and upon his return to London at the beginning of November,

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<v Speaker 1>the letter was shown to him. Instantly he agreed that

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<v Speaker 1>the discussion enclosed therein involved fire and powder. On the

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<v Speaker 1>afternoon of Monday, the fourth of November, Suffolk and Monteagle

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<v Speaker 1>began their search on the excuse that they were looking

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<v Speaker 1>for some property belonging to the King. Didn't take long

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<v Speaker 1>for them to come upon the home that had been

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<v Speaker 1>rented by Catesby guy Fox opened the door of the cellar,

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<v Speaker 1>displaying an enormous amount of wood and a ton of gunpowder.

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<v Speaker 1>It didn't take long for the King to send a

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<v Speaker 1>subsequent search of soldiers, at which time more gunpowder was uncovered.

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<v Speaker 1>Fox made no attempt to fight or to flee. He

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<v Speaker 1>admitted that he intended to blow up the King and

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<v Speaker 1>the two houses of Parliament the following morning. It seems

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<v Speaker 1>he was prepared to light a slow match and then

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<v Speaker 1>make his way to Wapping and from there take a

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<v Speaker 1>vote to France. When he was asked later informal questioning

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<v Speaker 1>by the Council the reason for procuring so much gunpowder,

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<v Speaker 1>he replied that he wanted quote to blow the Scottish

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<v Speaker 1>beggars back to their native mountains end quote. Shortly thereafter,

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<v Speaker 1>James was told of Fox's capture and gave thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>this miracle. But it was perhaps not a miracle at all.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a very good chance that Francis Tresham and Lord

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<v Speaker 1>Monteagle may have conspired in the production of the letter

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<v Speaker 1>as a device to gain the favor of the King.

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<v Speaker 1>It has also been suggested over the centuries that Robert Cecil,

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<v Speaker 1>Lord Salisbury, was aware of the conspiracy but allowed it

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<v Speaker 1>to go forward as a way of catching out the Catholics.

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<v Speaker 1>This is highly unlikely, though not impossible. News of Fox's

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<v Speaker 1>arrest spread quickly. KTS By and the other remaining conspirators

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<v Speaker 1>fled London. Their only hope now was to create the

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<v Speaker 1>right conditions for a Catholic rising in the countryside, most

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<v Speaker 1>likely in the North. It didn't happen, Just like in

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<v Speaker 1>Elizabeth's reign, Those who desperately wanted to see in English

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<v Speaker 1>rising desperately overestimated the likelihood that one might occur. On

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<v Speaker 1>January twenty seventh, sixteen oh six, Fox and the other

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<v Speaker 1>conspirators were tried for treason. All but one pleaded not guilty,

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<v Speaker 1>and their innocence they were executed a few days later.

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<v Speaker 1>The remaining Jesuits, who hadn't come up with the plot

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<v Speaker 1>but had condoned it, were executed a few days after that,

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<v Speaker 1>So ended the Gunpowder plot. I honestly think the most

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<v Speaker 1>interesting part of the whole affair, apart from its ludicrousness,

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<v Speaker 1>is how close it came to fruition. I'm not sure

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<v Speaker 1>it would have worked had all those beryls taken out

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<v Speaker 1>Parliament and the king. Certainly the whole Kingdom would have

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<v Speaker 1>been pitched forward into chaos if nothing else. Whether or

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<v Speaker 1>not that would have ended with the restoration of some

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<v Speaker 1>sort of a Catholic monastery well, that seems a lot

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<v Speaker 1>less likely. The King himself, despite his miraculous survival, was

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<v Speaker 1>not comforted. The Venetian ambassador reported that quote the King

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<v Speaker 1>is in terror. He does not appear, nor does he

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<v Speaker 1>take his meals in public as usual. He lives in

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<v Speaker 1>the innermost rooms, with only his scotsmen about him end quote.

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<v Speaker 1>James seemed subdued and melancholy, occasionally benting his anger against Catholics,

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<v Speaker 1>writing quote, I shall most certainly be obliged to stain

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<v Speaker 1>my hands with their blood, though sorely against my will

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<v Speaker 1>end quote. Luckily it did not come to that the

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<v Speaker 1>members of Commons had going on with their ordinary business

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<v Speaker 1>of the day, In fact, the very day they were

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<v Speaker 1>supposed to have been blown to smithereens. By May sixteen

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<v Speaker 1>o six, they had passed an Act quote for the

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<v Speaker 1>better discovering and repression of Popish recusants end quote. Catholics

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<v Speaker 1>were now required to attend Anglican services and receive communion

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<v Speaker 1>at least once per year. If you did not, then

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<v Speaker 1>you could be fined or have your property seized. No

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<v Speaker 1>known Catholic could be a doctor or a lawyer. Neither

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<v Speaker 1>could they travel more than five miles of their home

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<v Speaker 1>or ever come within ten miles of London. These measures

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<v Speaker 1>did not end Catholicism in England. They just pushed the

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<v Speaker 1>Catholics into the shadows. By and large, Catholics simply withdrew

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<v Speaker 1>from public life during James's reign. Only ultra Catholics kept

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<v Speaker 1>trying to support the pope. But even then, James did

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<v Speaker 1>not want to see either the Puritans or the Catholics

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<v Speaker 1>made martyrs, so these measures were rarely enforced. I guess

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<v Speaker 1>what we learn is it was just a lot easier

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<v Speaker 1>in the seventeenth century to make laws than it was

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<v Speaker 1>to enforce them. James was very different from Elizabeth. She

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<v Speaker 1>loved crowds. He detested them to an extent. This is

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<v Speaker 1>explained by his desperate fear of assassins. If a crowd

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<v Speaker 1>formed around him, James would cry out and attempt to escape,

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<v Speaker 1>but he didn't stay in the palace all the time,

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<v Speaker 1>cloistered away. James absolutely loved hunting. He justified it on

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<v Speaker 1>the grounds that hunting was vigorous and good for his health.

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<v Speaker 1>But religion and gunpowder plots aside, the biggest issue of

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<v Speaker 1>James's reign was money. James was continually and heavily in debt.

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<v Speaker 1>He thought he had come into this realm of plenty

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<v Speaker 1>of gold, but he soon found the treasury bear or rather,

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<v Speaker 1>I suppose he emptied it too quickly. He bought boots

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<v Speaker 1>and silk stockings and beaver hats like they were going

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<v Speaker 1>out of style. Court ceremony suddenly became more lavish, with

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<v Speaker 1>the arrival of evermore quote unquote gentlemen extraordinary. There was

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<v Speaker 1>a vogue at court for gambling. The king loved masks

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<v Speaker 1>and feats, which were for him a true sign of

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<v Speaker 1>a sovereign's power. He wished to have a mask on

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<v Speaker 1>the night of Christmas, whereupon he was told that it

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<v Speaker 1>was not in fashion. James's response was telling, what do

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<v Speaker 1>you tell me of the fashion? I will make it

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<v Speaker 1>a fashion. Certainly, a lot of the Crown's money went

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<v Speaker 1>to his favorites, and favorites, unlike during the Tutor years,

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<v Speaker 1>are going to play a major role during the reigns

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<v Speaker 1>of James the First and his son Charles. Yet, reasons

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<v Speaker 1>other than favoritism can be given for the king's indebtedness.

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<v Speaker 1>There had been a steady rise in prices due to

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<v Speaker 1>inflation all the way back to the beginning of Elizabeth's reign,

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<v Speaker 1>there was a reluctance of landowners to pay further taxation.

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<v Speaker 1>All of this contributed to the rise of expenditure of

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<v Speaker 1>the court above its income. The cost of an extended

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<v Speaker 1>royal household, complete with wife and three children, was also

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<v Speaker 1>very high. Queen Anne was extravagant and devoted to the

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<v Speaker 1>delights of a fashionable London. Her husband had proposed that

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<v Speaker 1>she might confine herself to the three thousand dresses in

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<v Speaker 1>the previous queen's wardrobe, but she did not care for

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<v Speaker 1>the old fashions. Sometimes Queen Anne would appear at court

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<v Speaker 1>dressed as a goddess or a nymph, even an Eastern

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<v Speaker 1>or Arab princess. To pay his expenses, James instituted new

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<v Speaker 1>taxes which were called impositions. These were import taxes. One

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<v Speaker 1>merchant decided to test the validity of these impositions on currents.

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<v Speaker 1>He simply refused to pay the customs agent as they

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<v Speaker 1>approached his card on the docks. He took the case

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<v Speaker 1>all the way up to the Exchequer, which ruled in

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<v Speaker 1>the Crown's favor, But then Parliament took up the matter.

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<v Speaker 1>The Commons had not been impressed by these impositions. After all,

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<v Speaker 1>it was a long established principle that the crown should

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<v Speaker 1>live of its own. The king held vast lates and lands,

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<v Speaker 1>he was supposed to pay his expenses out of that. Taxes,

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<v Speaker 1>it was universally agreed at the time, were extraordinary, only

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<v Speaker 1>to be raised in the times of war. The first

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<v Speaker 1>Parliament of James the First was summoned for five sessions

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<v Speaker 1>from March sixteen oh four to February sixteen eleven, and

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<v Speaker 1>in that l long period it acquired the beginning of

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<v Speaker 1>a corporate identity, largely lacking during the reign of Elizabeth,

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<v Speaker 1>more business was enacted and parliament set progressively for longer.

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<v Speaker 1>In sixteen oh seven, for example, the comments instituted a

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<v Speaker 1>Committee of the Whole House. This committee could elect its

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<v Speaker 1>own chairman, as opposed to the Speaker, who was still

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<v Speaker 1>chosen by the Monarch, and debate could go on as

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<v Speaker 1>long as Parliament wished. It was at the time seen

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<v Speaker 1>as a remarkable invention, and might be considered an early

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<v Speaker 1>warning sign of the strife between court and parliament. Now

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<v Speaker 1>the king also still had another major opponent. A legal

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<v Speaker 1>dispute had arisen. Was there a distinction between those Scots

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<v Speaker 1>born before James's ascension to the English throne and those

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<v Speaker 1>born afterwards. This gets back to that original question that

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<v Speaker 1>we had discussed earlier. Is there such a thing now

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<v Speaker 1>as Great Britain or are we still talking about the

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<v Speaker 1>Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. The King

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<v Speaker 1>argued that those born after his ascension were naturalized by

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<v Speaker 1>common law and therefore could hold office in England. James

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<v Speaker 1>turned to the judges, whom he assumed would take his part.

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<v Speaker 1>One of them refused to do so, and his name

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<v Speaker 1>was Sir Edward Coke. Sir Edward Coke had been a

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<v Speaker 1>judge of the Common Plae since sixteen oh five, and

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<v Speaker 1>he was an impassioned expert of English common law. James,

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<v Speaker 1>on the other hand, had no real conception of common law,

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<v Speaker 1>having been educated in what was very different legal proceedings

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<v Speaker 1>in Scotland. Coke believed, for example, that both the sovereign

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<v Speaker 1>and the subject were accountable to a body of ancient

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<v Speaker 1>law that had been conceived in practice and clarified by usage.

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<v Speaker 1>It represented immorial general custom, but it was also a

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<v Speaker 1>law very much grounded in reason. This was not, however,

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<v Speaker 1>the King's opinion. He had already firmly stated that the

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<v Speaker 1>King is above the law, both as the author of

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<v Speaker 1>the law and the one who gives it. Strength. From this,

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<v Speaker 1>it could be construed that the King possessed an arbitrary authority.

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<v Speaker 1>James alleged, for example, that he was allowed to decide

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<v Speaker 1>cases in person. Coke disagreed a case he said could

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<v Speaker 1>only be judged in a law court. The two obviously

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<v Speaker 1>did not get along. Any opinion that James was subject

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<v Speaker 1>to the law utterly infuriated him, Yet he wasn't ready

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<v Speaker 1>yet to make that sort of a fight. In sixteen

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<v Speaker 1>oh five, one of the King's learned council presented him

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<v Speaker 1>with a treatise that summed up the spirit of this

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<v Speaker 1>new age. Francis Bacons of the proficience and advancement of

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<v Speaker 1>learning divine and human has better been known to us

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<v Speaker 1>today as the advancement of learning. It can justifiably be

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<v Speaker 1>said to have changed the terms of human understanding and

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<v Speaker 1>our nature of knowledge. Bacon had been a royal servant

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<v Speaker 1>for some years under the patronage of his uncle, Lord Berry,

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<v Speaker 1>and had been first enlisted in the court of Elizabeth.

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<v Speaker 1>But the advent of a new King promised more tangible rewards,

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<v Speaker 1>and soon after the Ascension, Bacon provided James with texts

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<v Speaker 1>of advice on such matters as the Union of Scotland

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<v Speaker 1>and England and ecclesiastical policy. Yet the advancement of learning

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<v Speaker 1>was a work in quite another key, and one that

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<v Speaker 1>helped create the climate of scientific rationalism that would eventually

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<v Speaker 1>characterize the entire seventeenth century. Now, Bacon first had to

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<v Speaker 1>clear away all the inherited knowledge that came before the

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<v Speaker 1>early pages of the treatise. He denounces old studies in

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<v Speaker 1>which men study words and not matter. Words and not

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<v Speaker 1>matter had been the foundation for traditional learning for centuries,

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<v Speaker 1>and was grounded in the humanism of the Renaissance as

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<v Speaker 1>well as the scholastic theology of the Middle Ages. But

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<v Speaker 1>Bacon declared, quote that men have withdrawn themselves too much

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<v Speaker 1>from the contemplation of nature and the observations of expertise,

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<v Speaker 1>and have tumbled up and down in their own reasons

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<v Speaker 1>and conceits. In other words, it was time to pick

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<v Speaker 1>your head up out of the books and look at

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<v Speaker 1>the world if you wanted to learn something about the world.

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<v Speaker 1>He further observed quotes this kind of degenerate learning word

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<v Speaker 1>learning did chiefly reign amongst the schoolmen, who, having sharp

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<v Speaker 1>and strong wits, and abundance of leisure and small variety

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<v Speaker 1>of reading, but their wits being shut up in the

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<v Speaker 1>cells of a few authors cheerfully Aristotle their dictator, as

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<v Speaker 1>their persons were shut up in the cells of monasteries

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<v Speaker 1>and colleges, and knowing little history either of nature or

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<v Speaker 1>of time, did out of no great quantity of matter

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<v Speaker 1>and infinite agitation of wit spin unto us those laborious

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<v Speaker 1>webs of learning which are extant in their books, cobwebs

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<v Speaker 1>of learning, admirable for fineness of threat and work, but

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<v Speaker 1>of absolutely no substance and no profit end quote. Bacon

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<v Speaker 1>was assaulting the methods and principles of previous human learning

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<v Speaker 1>that had dominated for centuries in favor of experiment and observation.

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<v Speaker 1>He believed that this was the central tenet of actual science,

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<v Speaker 1>and for him the purpose was also different because the

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<v Speaker 1>purpose of all learning, for Bacon was to promote the

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<v Speaker 1>benefit and prosperity of humankind. It wasn't thinking about the

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<v Speaker 1>world beyond life after death, which had been the purpose

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<v Speaker 1>of all learning throughout the Middle Ages. The purpose, then

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<v Speaker 1>was to contemplate man's existence vis a v a distant God.

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<v Speaker 1>For Bacon, it was about making life better right now.

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<v Speaker 1>It is interesting that a man like Bacon would rise

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<v Speaker 1>under the reign of James the First. He was a Puritan,

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<v Speaker 1>or at least a puritanical disposition. He did not believe

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<v Speaker 1>in divine authority at all. He believed individualism. He believed

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<v Speaker 1>in observation, not contemplation, as the source of reason. Bacon,

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<v Speaker 1>in other words, just doesn't make a ton of sense

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<v Speaker 1>in James's court. That again, though, might be an indication

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<v Speaker 1>not that Bacon was out of place, but that James

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<v Speaker 1>was the divine right of kings, was increasingly out of

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<v Speaker 1>touch with modernity. On the cover of one of Bacon's

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<v Speaker 1>most important works, there is depicted a ship sailing smoothly

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<v Speaker 1>through the pillars of Hercules, long believed to be the

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<v Speaker 1>end of the world. Bacon, like many men of his age,

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<v Speaker 1>no longer accepted conventional norms. To see was to believe,

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<v Speaker 1>not to read Aristotle. Honestly, James feels a bit out

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<v Speaker 1>of step with the young men pushing forward the boundaries

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<v Speaker 1>of the human imagination in the seventeenth century, and perhaps,

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<v Speaker 1>as we will see that was one of the reasons

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<v Speaker 1>that things would get out of hand so quickly. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>if you're interested in supporting the show, there's two links

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<v Speaker 1>in the show notes. One is to the website and

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<v Speaker 1>the other is to a free trial of Western SIV

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<v Speaker 1>two point zero. You can click on that and it'll

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<v Speaker 1>pop up wherever you're listening to this website. For one

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<v Speaker 1>dollar a month, it's twelve dollars a year. You can

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<v Speaker 1>get ad free in early versions of the show you

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<v Speaker 1>just listened, and for upwards of two and more dollars

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<v Speaker 1>a month you can get access to a whole different

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<v Speaker 1>panoply of different shows that we've put forth. Thank you

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<v Speaker 1>for the support. As always,