The Queen's Body Guard
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Ambrose Rookwood

 Fustian

Poisoned Pommel

Armiger

Garter King of Arms

Portcullis Pursuivant

Arquebus

Gentleman

Poursuivant

Arundel Herald Extraordinary

Gentlemen at Arms

Privy Chamber

Assay

Gentleman Commoner

Privy Council

Attainder

Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod

Prorogue

Battle of Agincourt

Gold Coach

Proselytes

Battle of Barnet

Gold Stick

Raynes

Battle of Bosworth Field

Great Officers of State

Recusant

Battle of Crecy

Great Steward of England

Regicide

Battle of Dettingen

Groom of the Stole

Remembrancer

Battle of Flodden

Gunpowder Plot

Restoration

Battle of Guinegate

Gunpowder Plot Conspirators

Richmond Herald

Battle of Hastings

Guy Fawkes

Robert Catesby

Battle of Pinkie

Harquebus

Robert Keyes

Battle of Poitiers

Hogshead

Robert Winter

Battle of the Spurs

Horse Guards

Roger Monk

Battle of Tournai

House of Lancaster

Roll 2005

Billets

House of York

Rouge Croix Pursuivant

Bluemantle Pursuivant

Japanned

Rouge Dragon Pursuivant

Board of Green Cloth

Jesuit

Royal Company of Archers

Bolster

John Grant

Sarsenet

Brevet

John Wright

Sergeant at Arms

Cadwaladr

King’s Banneret

Sewer of the King

Cap of Maintenance

King’s Cup Bearer

Shanks’s Pony

Captain

Knight

Sinecure

Carbine

Knight of the Bath

Sir Everard Digby

Cardinal Wolsey

Knight of the Carpet

Slow Match

Carver

Knight of the King’s Body

Somerset Herald

Champion of England

Knight of the Shire

Sparver

Chancellor of the Duchy
of Lancaster

Lancaster Herald

Spear Knight

Chester Herald

Letters Patent

Spur Money

Chief Butler of the England/Wales

Lieutenant

Star Chamber

Christopher Wright

Lincoln Rebellion

State Coach

Clarenceux King of Arms

Lord Chamberlain

St Edwards Crown

Clerk of the Cheque

Lord Great Chamberlain

St George

College of Arms

Lord High Admiral

Sword of State

Comptroller of the Household

Lord High Constable

Tartine

Constable of the Tower

Lord High Steward

Thane

Coroner of the Verge

Lord High Treasurer

The Lord Speaker

Curvet

Lord President of the Council

Thomas Bates

Damask

Lord Privy Seal

Thomas Percy

Dissenters

Lord Steward

Thomas Winter

Donne Kowe

Lyon King of Arms

Thynne

Duchy of Lancaster

Making the Sovereign’s Bed

Touchwood

Earl Marshal

Maltravers Herald Extraordinary

Tower of London

Ell

Marshalsea Court

Treasurer of the Royal Household

Ensign

Marterns

Treasurer of the Sovereign’s Chamber

Essex Rebellion

Master of the Horse

Tudor Crown

Esquire

Messenger Sergeant Major

Wales Herald Extraordinary

Exon

Monteagle Letter

Warden of the Stannaries

Faggot

Norfolk Herald Extraordinary

Wars of the Roses

Fetch

Norray & Ulster King of Arms

Whip

Field of Cloth of the Gold

Northern Rebellion

Windsor Herald

Fitzalan Pursuivant of
Arms Extraordinary

Pane

Woolsack

Forest Law

Pike

Wyatt’s Rebellion

Francis Tresham

Pilgrimage of Grace

Yeoman of the Stole

 

Plantagenet

York Herald

 

Armiger Person entitled to bear Heraldic Arms, such as a Sovereign or nobleman.  It can also mean a Squire that carries the armour of a medieval knight. In latin it literally means "armour-bearer".
Attainder Formerly the extinction of a person's civil rights resulting from a sentence of death or outlawry on conviction of treason or felony.
Billets A chunk of wood especially for fuel.
Board of Green Cloth The committee that audited the Royal accounts.
Brevet A document entitling a commissioned officer to hold temporarily a higher rank without the appropriate pay and allowances.
Cadwaladr Welsh hero and son of Cadwallon, King of Gwynedd, North Wales. He defeated and slew Eadwine of Northumbria in 633 but was himself killed in battle the following year.
Cap of Maintenance One of the insignia of royalty, the cap is made of crimson velvet turned up with ermine. It is carried on a white wand before the Sovereign at the Coronation and on ceremonial occasions such as the State Opening of Parliament.  The name is derived from 'main a tenant' meaning 'held in hand'.  Historically a cap was an emblem of high rank and honour, given by the Pope in medieval times to European sovereigns (the last English sovereign recipient was Henry VIII) - hence its association with the monarchy. The cap's main symbol is that of Mercy.
Carbine A kind of short-barrelled shoulder rifle
Champion of England The King's Champion (campio regis) is an office peculiar to England and dates probably from the 14th century.  Originally the Champion's function was to ride, clad in full armour, into Westminster Hall during the Coronation banquet. Flanked by the High Constable and the Earl Marshal, he threw down the gauntlet three times, challenging to mortal combat any one who would dispute the King's right to reign. There is no record that the challenge was ever accepted. The ceremony last took place at the Coronation of George IV in 1821. Since 1902 the King's Champion has carried the Standard of England.
Coroner of the Verge A coroner was an Officer of the Royal Household charged with maintaining the rights of the private property of the Crown.  In modern times of course his chief function is to hold inquest on the bodies of those who have died by violence of accident.  A verge is literally an area of land that encompasses the Royal Court that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Lord Steward.
Curvet In dressage, a low lead with all four feet off the ground, or to prance about.
Damask A reversible fabric, usually silk or linen, with a pattern woven in it.
Donne Kowe or, Dun Cow is the savage beast slain by Guy of Warwick. A huge tusk, probably that of an elephant, is still shown at Warwick Castle as the horns of the Dun Cow.  The fable is that it belonged to a giant and was kept on Michell Fold, Shropshire, and its milk was inexhaustible. One day an old woman who had filled her pail wanted to fill her sieve also. Enraged, the cow broke loose and wandered to Dunsmore Heath where she was slain.

On Dunsmore Heath I alsoe stewe
A monstrous wyld and cruell beast,
Calld the Dun-Cow of Dunsmore Heath;
Which many people had opprest.
Some of her bones in Warwick yett
Still for a monument doe lye.
                                 Percy (The Legend of Sir Guy) 

Faggot A bundle of sticks or twigs especially when bound together and used as fuel.
Forest Law In medieval England, many activities were at one time or another prohibited under forest law. These included hunting, enclosure of land, felling of trees, building, the carrying of weapons and the grazing of livestock. In the beginning, punishments for these offences were brutal and blinding or amputation were not uncommon. This evolved into a system of fines and eventually this became a de facto tax; providing a major source of income to the Crown. Forest law was enforced by foresters, and the fines administered by verderers. These titles still exist today, although they are now largely ceremonial.
Edited from Wikipedia/forestlaws
Gentleman Commoner Gentlemen-Commoners were distinguished from ordinary commoners by special academic dress, by dining at a separate table, by various immunities with respect to lectures etc and by the payment of higher fees. The term is now practically obsolete.  
Gold Stick The Gilt Rod carried on state occasions by the Colonel of the Life Guards or the Captain of the Gentlemen at Arms.  
Hogshead A large cask used for the shipment of wines and spirits.  It is also a unit of capacity, used especially for alcoholic beverages.  It has several values, being 54 imperial gallons in the case of beer and 52.5 imperial gallons in the case of wine.
Japanned A glossy durable black lacquer originally from the Orient used on wood and metal.
Jesuit A member of a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1534 with the aims of defending the papacy and Catholicism against the Reformation and to undertake missionary work. 

Knight of the King's
Body

or Esquire of the King's Body are as the title suggests one the Sovereign's closest attendants and shield bearer. 
Landau Eight state landaus are still in use for royal occasions today; all of them date before 1872.  State landaus are drawn by two bay horses driven from the box; the footmen stand when the hood of the carriage is closed and are seated when the hood is open. The State landaus can be seen in the Royal Mews behind Buckingham Palace.
Lord Chamberlain An Officer who manages the Royal Household.
Master of the Horse This office is always filled by noblemen of great rank.  In England the title is the third official of the Royal Household.  The Master of the Horse has the management and direction of all matters relating to the Royal stables and the revenue appropriate to this branch of the Royal Household.  He has the privilege of using horses belonging to the Crown, and of being attended by pages and servants attached to his department.  In Royal processions and on occasions of state he usually rides in the same carriage with the Sovereign or is in immediate attendance.  The office is now a political one and the holder resigns on a change of government.
Pike A medieval weapon consisting of an iron or steel spearhead joined to a long pole, the pikestaff.
Plantagenet Any one of a line of English kings ruling from the ascent of Henry II (1154) to the death of Richard III (1485). Its literal meaning sprig of broom with reference to the crest of the Algevin kings. Latin planta (sprig) + genista (broom).
Poursuivant A King's messenger or State messenger.
Privy Chamber A private apartment inside a Royal residence. A private room reserved for the use of a specific person or group.
Privy Council The private council of the British Sovereign.  The number members of the council was anciently about twelve when it discharged the functions of state, but it became unwieldy before 1679 when it was remodelled upon Sir William Temple's plan and reduced to thirty members.  It currently consists of all current and former Ministers of the Crown and other distinguished subjects, all of whom are appointed for life.  The number of councillors is again unlimited but no members attend unless specifically summoned.  The members are selected by the Sovereign and are drawn from persons distinguished by high office, wisdom and political experience.  The council includes the principal ministers of the Crown, some judges, many diplomats, peers and commoners whose services to the state and whose position in it, whether past or present, render them eligible to advise upon public affairs.  A privy councillor, even though a commoner, is styled "right honourable" and has precedence of all knights, baronets and younger sons of barons and viscounts.  S/he is admitted a member upon taking the oath prescribed by law and forthwith takes their seats at the board, according to his rank. 

During the period of The Commonwealth 1649-1660 a Privy Council was still held although members were sworn at councils held at The Hague, Breda and elsewhere.  Charles II re-formed his council on Restoration in 1660.      
Prorogue verb, To discontinue the meeting of a legislative body without dissolving (dismissing) it.
Proselytes A person newly converted to a religious faith or sect; a convert.
Recusant A Roman Catholic than did not attend the services of the Church of England, as was required by law. Or indeed, any person that refuses to submit to authority.
Remembrancer Any of several officials of The Exchequer whose duties include collecting debts due to the Crown.
Restoration The period of English history after the fall of the Protectorate, or Commonwealth, in 1660. It saw the re-establishment of the Monarchy in the person of King Charles II.
Regicide The killing of a King or a person that kills a King.
Sarsenet Or sarcenet, a fine soft silk fabric used for clothing and ribbons.
Sergeant at Arms Sergeants-at-Arms have been a part of British history since 1279 when Edward I formed a body guard of 20 Sergeants-at-Arms. The gentlemen under this title, carried a decorated battle-mace as a weapon and as a badge of this particular office. The English body guard’s strength was later increased to 30, and in 1415 one of their numbers was appointed to attend upon the Speaker and all Parliaments as Sergeant-at-Arms for the Commons.
Sewer of the King An attendant of high rank in charge of the serving of meals and the seating of guests. The holder was until the fifteenth century an Officer in the Royal Household and an Office of Ceremony at Coronations.  Sewer, Carver and Cup Bearer and the like where the King is served personally were positions known as 'Yeoman Ushers of Devotion'
Shanks's Pony or for our US or Canadian guests - Shanks's Mare.  To ride Shanks's Pony or Mare is to walk or go on foot.  The shanks being the legs. Some may know it as the Marrow-bone Stage or Walker's Bus.
Sinecure A paid office or post involving minimal duties.
Slow Match A match or fuse that burns slowly without flame, especially a wick impregnated with potassium nitrate.
Star Chamber A civil and criminal court in England so named because of the star-shaped ceiling decoration of the room in the Palace of Westminster where its first meeting was held.  Created in 1487 by Henry VII it comprised of between 20 and 30 judges.  It became notorious under Charles I for judgments favourable to the King and to Archbishop Laud. It was abolished in 1641.
St Edwards Crown

The usual representation of the crown since 1952. Some Victorian representations of crowns are also obviously St Edward's Crown

St George Patron saint of England. He is said to have been martyred at Lydda, in Palestine in 303, probably under Dioletain, but other elements of his legend are of doubtful origin.  The story that St George rescued a girl by slaying a dragon, evidently derived from the Perseus legend, first appears in the 16th century. The cult of St George was introduced into Western Europe by the Crusaders. His feast-day is celebrated on 23 April.
Sword of State

 

 


The Sword of State represents the power to make war (as opposed to the Cap of Maintenance, carried at the same time as the Sword of State, that represents Mercy)

Tartine A big article of commonplace character. Something sensational that can attract a crowd.
Thane In England - a member of an aristocratic class, ranking below an Earldom, whose status was hereditary and who held land from the King or from another nobleman in return for certain services.  In Scotland - a person of rank, often a chief of a clan, holding land from the King.  The title was also appointed to a lesser noble who was a Crown official holding authority over an area of land.
Touchwood Dry wood or fungus material such as amadou (a spongy substance made from certain fungi used as tinder to light fires; in medicine to stop bleeding; by anglers to dry off flies between casts.

Treasurer of the Royal Household

As one might guess this title dealing with the Sovereign's finances for that particular area of the rule.

Treasurer of the Sovereign's Chamber

As one might guess this title dealing with the Sovereign's finances for that particular area of the rule.
Tudor Crown The standard pattern representational crown with raised arches, used between 1901 and 1952. Introduced by King Edward VII who described it as - "the Tudor, 'Henry VII' Crown, chosen and always used by Queen Victoria personally". This was, presumably, a reference to Queen Victoria's Small Diamond Crown, which in shape, is similar to the Tudor Crown

Warden of the Stannaries

The Stannaries were districts comprising the tin mines and smelting works of Devon and Cornwall formerly under the jurisdiction of Stannary Courts.
Woolsack A sack containing or intended to contain wool.  It is also the seat of the Lord Chancellor in the House of Lords, formerly made of a large square sack of wool. 
   

 

Gunpowder Plot – 5 November 1605

Four hundred have elapsed since the memorable Gunpowder Plot; yet so great was the perversion of circumstances connected with this atrocious act by religious and political parties, that it is was two centuries before a true knowledge of the event was uncovered.  Indeed, even now some of is still masked in mystery.  It was the policy of James I, and his Ministers, to represent the Gunpowder Plot as having been encouraged by the Pope and approved of by the great body of Roman Catholics in England.   

For this purpose, before the trial of the conspirators, an artfully concocted, but dishonest narrative, entitled “A Discourse of the Gunpowder Plot” was industriously circulated in England and, after translation into various languages, was diligently spread over every part of Europe.  In the published account of the examinations and trial of the suspected parties, the evidence is misrepresented in some parts and altogether suppressed in others.  The result of these and similar measures to deceive the world, has been to leave everything concerning ‘the plot’ by Roman Catholics to destroy The King, Lords and Commons in doubt and questionable almost to the present day. 

 There has been much research made among documents relating to this plot in the State Paper and in the Crown Offices. It was well known that upon the accession of James I to the English throne the Roman Catholics of the realm had good reasons for presuming that they would no longer be subjected to the oppression which they had endured during the reign of Elizabeth.  The new Monarch was born of Catholic parents, and it was said approved of several ordinances of the Roman Church.  Indeed, some declared that the King had given express assurance before he came to England of his intentions to tolerate the Roman Catholic religion.  One of the early acts of his reign seemed to confirm this intention.  He arrived in London in the beginning of April, in the July he sent for many recusants of distinction who were assured by the Lords of the Privy Council that “it was his Majesty’s intention to exonerate the English Roman Catholics from the pecuniary fine of £20 a month for recusancy imposed by the statute of Elizabeth”. For two years after this assurance the fines for recusancy appear to have been nearly all remitted.  But the Roman Catholics soon discovered from the treats and declarations of James I that he had no intention of granting them toleration.

An act passed both Houses declaring that all the laws of Elizabeth against Jesuists and Priests were to be re-instated and were duly executed. Two-thirds of the estates of recusants, and all their movable goods, were seized in payment of the £20 a month fine.  A bill was introduced to the effect that ‘all persons who had been educated in Roman Catholic seminaries abroad should be incapable of possessing property within the King’s dominions’.  These and other proceedings of still greater severity were resented by the Roman Catholics. Among those in whom these measure rankled most bitterly was Robert Catesby, a gentleman descended from an ancient and opulent family in Northamptonshire.  Catesby’s father, who had become a convert to the Roman Catholic religion in the time of Elizabeth, had been more than once imprisoned for recusancy. Robert at one time had abandoned Catholicism and impaired his fortune by a course of gross licentiousness.  However, in 1598 he returned to the religion of his youth, and devoted himself to the task of making proselytes to the Catholic faith and to devising means to liberate himself and brethren from the yoke under which they suffered. 

With this in mind, he engaged in the ill-judged insurrection of the Earl of Essex. Catesby was wounded and taken prisoner and only obtained his freedom by the strenuous exertions of his friends, and at the cost of three thousand pounds.  After his release he became involved in several seditious plans to prevent the succession of the Scottish King.  Failing in all, desperate of redress and lacking of sufficient foreign aid, he at length planned vengeance which required no help from abroad and required the  co-operation of a few close associates.  His project was to blow-up the Palace of Westminster with gun powder during the State Opening thus assassinating The King, The House Lords and The Commons. 

He disclosed his horrendous scheme to Thomas Winter, a young gentleman of Worcestershire, who was shocked at the proposal. At this was the moment Velasco, the Constable of Castile, had reached Flanders to conclude a peace between England and Spain.  It was decided to postpone Catesby’s dreadful plan until they had endeavoured to obtain the mediation of the Spaniard with King James I for the repeal of the penal laws against Roman Catholics.  Winter moved to the Netherlands, but it wasn’t long until word reached him that there was no hope of obtaining what he sought through Velasco.  Passing to Ostend, he encountered an old fellow-traveller and countryman, one Guy (or Guildo) Fawkes

Of the early education and history of Fawkes scarcely anything is known.  It is thought that he spent his inheritance, and down on his heels, enlisted as a soldier of fortune in the Spanish Army of the Netherlands.  It has been the custom to represent this man as a mercenary desperado, but those who knew him well describe him as a ‘gentleman of exemplary temperance, of tried fidelity and dauntless courage, whose society was coveted by all the most distinguished in the Archduke’s camp’. 

Fawkes and Winter returned to England but was for some time kept in ignorance of the desperate part he was to play.  Before their arrival, Catesby had made confidants of two other gentlemen, Thomas Percy and John Wright, and a few days afterwards they all met at Catesby’s lodgings, but he refused to reveal his scheme until every one had sworn a solemn oath of secrecy.  This was agreed to, and the five men again met at a house in the fields near Clement’s Inn.  Here, they swore an oath ‘never to disclose, directly or indirectly, by word or circumstance, the matter proposed, nor desist from the execution of it until the rest should give permission’.  For some time they cherished hopes that James I would listen to Velasco and grant his Roman Catholic subjects some remission of their burdens. The King was inexorable, assuring Velasco that even if he desired to agree a compromise he dared not grant a concession as this would be repugnant to the feelings of his Protestant people. 

Shortly afterwards, it is said that the magistrates received fresh orders to enforce the laws against recusants, and a new commission was appointed for the banishment of all Roman Catholic missionaries.  These proceedings seem to have extinguished the last lingering ray of hope in the breasts of the conspirators, and they hastened to the execution of Catesby’s murderous plan. 

Their first step was to hire a house with a garden strategically positioned to the old Palace of Westminster.  This house was taken by Percy, who, being a Gentleman Pensioner, pretended it was convenient to him for the performance of his official duties.  From the cellar of this house a mine was to be made through the wall of the Parliament House, and a quantity of combustibles was then to be placed beneath the House of Lords. Operations begun excavating the mine, and four of the party laboured night and day, in shifts, with short rest periods.  Fawkes, in the meantime, under the name of Johnson, gave himself out as the servant of Percy, and kept a constant watch on the outside.  After a fortnight of unremitting work, Fawkes brought news that the King had prorogued Parliament to 7 February.  The conspirators agreed to separate, and each went to his own home with an understanding not to communicate in any manner with each other, but to meet again in November.  In the interval it was thought desirable to rent a house at Lambeth, and there they gradually accumulated large quantities of powder and other combustibles, which they later removed to Westminster by water.  The house at Lambeth was committed to Robert Keyes, a Roman Catholic and friend of Catesby, who, after taking the oath had been entrusted with this most dangerous of secrets, and was readily received into the band. 

 The Parliamentary Commission arranging the proposed union of England and Scotland had appointed to hold their meetings in the very house taken by Percy.  The work was therefore deferred for a month.  On the 11 December 1604 the confederates again met at the house.  Owing to the great thickness of the party-wall of the Parliament House they found their task to be much more difficulty than they had expected and they sent for Keyes from Lambeth and also enlisted a younger brother of John Wright to aid in the work. All day they dug at the mine, carrying the earth and rubbish at night into the garden and spreading it over the ground.  In this way they laboured without having once shown themselves in the upper part of the House for some weeks.  Fawkes brought intelligence that Parliament was again prorogued from the 7 February to the 3 October 1605.  Once more they arranged to separate, this time till after the Christmas holidays, and then to meet and renew their toil.  In the beginning of February 1605 they resumed, and, by great perseverance and exertion, had pierced about halfway through the wall, when they were alarmed by a rushing noise in a cellar just above their heads.  Fawkes was at once dispatched to ascertain the meaning of the noise, and found that is was caused by the removal of coal belonging to a man who had the cellar.  Upon surveying the place it proved to be an extremely spacious vault situated immediately beneath the House of Lords.  This cellar was speedily taken in Percy’s name for receiving his own coal and wood; about twenty barrels of powder were immediately transported from Lambeth to the cellar and carefully concealed by faggots and billets of wood.  The preparations were complete at the beginning of May 1605. The cellar was sealed, and as Parliament was not to meet till the 3 October 1605 they again parted for some months in order to avoid suspicion.

Shortly after, Parliament was again prorogued to the 5 November 1605.  Catesby was aware of the importance of having a military force to meet any opposition. During the Summer, he set about raising a body of horseman under the pretence that they were to serve in the Spanish force in Flanders.  He collected a large body of discontented gentlemen in this manner, and cautiously introduced among the officers several of the sworn conspirators.  He managed also to enlist as members of the secret band three Roman Catholic gentlemen of wealth and station – Sir Everard Digby, Francis Tresham and Ambrose Rookwood

The 5 November approached, and the confederates held frequent consultations at a lone house near Enfield Chase, and another equally desolate on the Marches near Erith.  Here their plan of operations was completed.  Guy Fawkes, a man of tried courage, volunteered to perform the perilous task of firing the mine.  He was to perform this perilous task by the use of a slow match; this would allow him time to escape to a boat moored on the Thames to take him to Flanders.  A list of all the Peers and Commoners whom it was thought desirable to save was made and it was decided that on the morning of the attack each of them should receive an urgent message to withdraw himself from Westminster.

Tresham was anxious that a warning should also be given to Lord Mounteagle, who had married his sister, but Catesby strongly argued against this. Tresham suggested a further delay on the ground that he could not allow the possibility that his brother-in-law may become a victim.  He strengthened his argument by threatening to withdraw his funding. The proposal confirmed the suspicious which Catesby had of Tresham’s loyalty to the group, but Catesby thought it prudent to remain silent. This was the start of the elaborate plan’s demise.  On Saturday 26 October 1605, ten days before the intended meeting of Parliament, Lord Mounteagle ordered a supper to be prepared, not at his residence in town, but at house belonging to him at Hoxton.  While at a table in the evening a letter was delivered to him by one of his pages, who said he received it from a tall man whom he did not recognise.  Mounteagle opened the letter, and seeing that it had neither signature nor date, requested a gentleman in his service, named Ward, to read it aloud. 

Quote… “My lord out of the love I beare to some of youere frends I have a caer of youer preseruacion therfor I would advyse yowe as yowe tender youer lyf to devys some excuse to shift of youer attendance at this parleament for god and man hath concurred to punishe the wickednes of this tyme and think not slightlye of this advertisment but retyre youre self into youre contri wheare yowe may expect the event in safti for thowghe theare be no appearance of anni stir yet I saye they shall receyve a terrible blowe this parleament and yet they shall not seie who hurts them this cowncel is not to be contemned because it may do yowe good and can do yowe no harme for the dangere is passed as soon as yowe have burnt the letter and I hope god will give yowe the grace to mak good use of it to whose holy proteccion I comend yowe” …unquote.

On the following day the very gentleman who had read the letter at Mounteagle’s table co-incidentally called on Thomas Winter.  By way of general conversation he told Winter of the letter the previous evening; adding that his Lordship had passed the mysterious missive to the Secretary of State. He ended the conversation by jesting with Winter that if he were a party to the plot, which the letter hinted at, he should flee at once.  Winter, though alarmed, treated the affair as a hoax.  However, as soon as possible he communicated the intelligence to his colleagues.  Catesby instantly suspected that Tresham was the writer. 

Some days later, Tresham received a letter suggesting that he meet Catesby and Winter in Enfield Chase. Tresham was accused of treachery, but he dismissed the charge with such spirit, and maintained his innocence with so many oaths that although they had decided beforehand to murder him they spared his life. They sent Fawkes to examine the cellar, he found all safe.  Only on his return did they tell him of the new intelligence and they apologised for sending him on so dangerous an errand.  Fawkes, with characteristic coolness, declared he should have gone with equal readiness had he known of the letter; he revisited the cellar once every day till the 5 November.

On 31 October the King, who had been hunting, returned to London and the letter was shown to him.  He read it repeatedly, and spent two hours in consultation with his Minister.  On 3 November the conspirators were advised by Ward that the letter had been shown to the King.  Some proposed to flee; others refuted to credit the story; finally, they decided to await the return of Percy.  Percy exerted all his powers to reassure his colleagues, and after long discussion, Fawkes undertook to keep guard within the cellar, Percy and Winter to superintend the operations in London, and Catesby and John Wright departed for the general rendezvous at Dunchurch.

On Monday afternoon, 4 November, the Lord Chamberlain, whose responsibility it was to ascertain that preparations were made for the opening of the Session, visited the Parliament House and in company with Lord Mounteagle, entered the vault.  Casting an apparently casual eye, and fixing his eyes on Fawkes, who pretended to be Percy’s servant, he observed there was a large quantity of fuel for a private house and asked who occupied the cellar. He then retired to report his observations to the King, who upon hearing that the man was “a very tall and desperate fellow” gave orders that the cellar should be carefully searched.  Fawkes in the meantime had hurried to inform Percy, and then, such was his determination, returned alone to the cellar.

About two in the morning of 5 November 1605 Fawkes opened the door of the vault and came out, booted and dressed for a long journey.  At that instant, before he could stir, heGuy Fawkes is discovered in the cellar beneath Parliament was seized by a party of soldiers, under the direction of Sir Thomas Knevit.  Three matches were found in his pocket, and a dark-lantern behind the door.  He at once admitted his plan, and declared that if he had been inside the cellar when they took him he would have blown all up together.  The search began, and the removal of the fuel, two hogsheads and thirty-two barrels of gunpowder.

It was nearly four o’clock before the King and Council had assembled to interrogate the prisoner.  Fawkes was then carried to Whitehall, and there, in the Royal bedchamber, underwent examination.  Though bound and helpless, he never for an instant shrank in fear.  He answered every question put to him with perfect coolness.  His name, he said, was John Johnson, his condition that of a servant to Mr Percy.  He declined to say if he had accomplices, but declared his object was, when the Parliament met that day, to have destroyed all there assembled.  Being asked by the King how he could plot the death of his children and so many innocent souls, he answered, “Dangerous diseases require desperate remedie”.  A Scottish nobleman asked him for what end he had collected so much powder, “one of my ends” said he “was to blow Scotchmen back to their native place”.  After, several hours spent in questing him he was conveyed to the Tower of London.  back to top
Edited article in the Irish Times (The Arrest of Guy Fawkes on the Eve of 5th Nov 1605) Printed on 9 Nov 1861

Essex Rebellion

Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex was a dazzling courtier who captivated Elizabeth. The step-son of the Earl of Leicester (one of Elizabeth's earlier favourites), and the husband of Sir Philip Sidney's widow, he tried to draw on the legacies of those around him to increase his favour. Throughout the 1590s, Essex had played on his favour with the Queen and had risen quickly through military ranks to be appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1599. Essex was unable to deploy successfully the fullest and best equipped Tudor army ever sent to Ireland and, in September 1599, he signed an unauthorised truce with the leading Irish rebel, the Earl of Tyrone. Elizabeth was furious, ordered his arrest and stripped him of his titles. In January 1601, the rebel Earl led an abortive raid against the Queen and London but was captured and, on 25 February, executed for treason.
Quote from The Gunpowder Plot Society website - www.gunpowder-plot.org
Monteagle Letter

My lord out of the love I beare to some of youere frends I have a caer of youer preseruacion therfor I would advyse yowe as yowe tender youer lyf to devys some excuse to shift of youer attendance at this parleament for god and man hath concurred to punishe the wickednes of this tyme and think not slightlye of this advertisment but retyre youre self into youre contri wheare yowe may expect the event in safti for thowghe theare be no appearance of anni stir yet I saye they shall receyve a terrible blowe this parleament and yet they shall not seie who hurts them this cowncel is not to be contemned because it may do yowe good and can do yowe no harme for the dangere is passed as soon as yowe have burnt the letter and I hope god will give yowe the grace to mak good use of it to whose holy proteccion I comend yowe

The Gunpowder Plot Conspirators

Thomas Bates 
Robert Catesby
Guy Fawkes
John Grant
Robert Keyes
Thomas Percy
Christopher Wright
John Wright
Robert Winter
Thomas Winter
Later were:
Sir Everard Digby
Ambrose Rookwood
Francis Tresham

Battle of Agincourt - 25 October 1415

Banners at the Battle of AgincourtThe Battle of Agincourt was fought during the Hundred years war.  At the end of the English Invasion of 1415 by King Henry V, after his conquest of Harfleur, he marched his army of 1,000 Knights and 5,000 Archers (many of which were Welsh)  towards Calais. He marched to Amiens as flooding had caused the river at the Somme. This delay gave the French army of 20,000 strong under the command of the Constable Charles d'Albret and Marshal Jean Bouciquaut II.  The French army blocked Henry V route to Calais. Giving the English no choice but to fight. Henry V positioned his army at Agincourt, between to wooded areas giving a frontage of 1100 metres. Henry deployed his force into three Divisions each group had archers at each flank.  He had chosen his position well, in front of his army was ploughed fields and due to the heavy raid was very muddy.  Due to the narrow battlefield area the French army lost there advantage of superior numbers.   At 11 o'clock the English started to advance their archers within 2509