Their joy was only temporary however as James made little effort to improve life for Catholics living in England, and the Catholics became disillusioned with him as he willingly passed laws, which would make life harder for Catholics.
The question of succession to the throne was an important factor, which led to the Gunpowder Plot. When Mary had died in 1587 there was a disagreement about Elizabeth’s right to rule. Elizabeth’s mother had been Anne Boleyn, but Catholics believed that she was not entitled to the throne, as the divorce between Henry and Catherine of Aragon had not been legal, as the Pope did not ratify it. The fall from grace of Anne Boleyn further complicated matters, and after her execution, the Privy Council declared Elizabeth a bastard and she was removed from the succession, and although Henry later replaced her in the succession, he never legitimised her. . Instead they believed that the rightful heir to the throne was Mary Queen of Scots. This became impossible after 1587, as Elizabeth had Mary executed. The next in line was Mary’s son, James VI of Scotland. The fact that that he was a protestant was a cause of concern to English Catholics. But he promised to be more tolerant of Catholics and acceded the English Throne in 1603. This, however cause false hope for the Catholics, as following the Hampton Court Conference in 1604 James reintroduced harsh penalties for Catholicism
THE QUESTION OF WHO WANTED POWER AND WHY
When James I arrived in England from Scotland, he soon discovered that his income would not be enough for his needs and obligations. Before James, English monarchs had grown used to asking the members of Parliament to grant them money. James disliked this idea, but it was the only option. As the Parliament was mainly made up of Puritans (a stricter form of protestant), it was hard for his to keep his promise to the Catholics, as the Parliament would have been less than happy to grant money while he was tolerant of Catholics, and he had to try to stay on their side. It was this policy change than helped to trigger the Gunpowder Plot.
Robert Cecil was the Chief Minister and Adviser to Elizabeth, but there was no guarantee that James would keep him in that position. It has been argued that Robert set up the plot to prove his value to the king. He hated Catholics and saw them as a constant source of trouble. Cecil also feared that there was a chance that James would be lenient with Catholics during his reign and this he was not able to tolerate. That James only expelled priests was simply not good enough for Robert .He wanted to remove Catholicism from England as he saw it as a threat.
James was terrified of assassination; his childhood in Scotland had been fraught with danger, and Scottish nobles kidnapped him in 1582, as King of Scotland. He always wore a stab jacket for fear of being murdered. What better way to get James to severely persecute the Catholics in England than to get him to believe that they had tried to kill him in this very violent manner?
Gunpowder was only available to Government, as they had it stored in places such as the tower of London. How had the Plotters managed to get 36 barrels unnoticed? How was the gunpowder moved across London from the Tower of London to Westminster (at least two miles distant) without anyone noticing? The River Thames could not have been used because the gunpowder could have become damp and useless, and thirty-six barrels would have been a substantial amount to move without any suspicion. Why were men who were known to be Catholics allowed to rent out a house so close to the Houses of Parliament? 36 barrels of Gunpowder would not have been easy to hide, so how did they get it all into the cellar of the Houses of Parliament, they were sure to have some security.
Also, when the Monteagle letter was discovered, why did everybody claim to not understand the message, until James saw it, and he understood immediately? Could it have been so that they could save the Government day (and the King) at the last moment? We must consider whether the Goverment set up the whole plot, giving them a reason to crack down even harder on Catholics, as well as proving their worthiness to the King.
The Foreign Policy of the Papacy
Therefore, I believe that Roman Catholicism was very important in the Gunpowder Plot, as it ties in with each of the separate factors.