Why overthrow the King

• In 1570, Elizabeth I was excommunicated, and the Pope called on all loyal Catholics to get rid of Elizabeth. This led Elizabeth to more actively prevent Catholics from practising their faith, and punished them if they continued to do so.
• When James I became King of England, Catholics hoped that he would allow more religious freedom than his Elizabeth I – partly because he had a Catholic wife.
• However, James I also introduced strict anti-Catholic measures.
• The leader of the Gunpowder Plotters was Robert Catesby, whose father had been imprisoned for hiding a Catholic priest. Catesby himself had refused to take a Protestant oath, which meant he could not finish his university degree.
• Catesby recruited the other Gunpowder plotters, including Guy Fawkes, Thomas Percy, Thomas Winton and Jack Wright. They were all Catholics.