He too was willing to act on the troubles that the Catholics in England beared. His colleagues quickly learned to trust him, and later gave him the job of acquiring 36 barrels of gunpowder. Once he had acquired it, he was to store it in the rented space of the cellar beneath the House of Lords. Soon others joined the group, such as Robert Wintour, Christopher Wright, Robert Keyes and Thomas Bates. Later on more people joined: John Grant, Ambrose Rookwood, Francis Tresham and Everard Digby. These were the 13 conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot.
The Conspirators would plant a bomb in the cellar beneath the House of Parliaments, which coincidently was being used for storage and spaces could be bought.
As the group worked on the plot, they realized that many innocent people would be wounded or killed in the explosion. Some of them had even fought and were on the Catholics side for more rights. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One group member sent an anonymous letter to warn his friend, Lord Monteagle to stay away from the House on November 5th.
Some Historians say that the king and his officials already knew about the plot, and that it was all to gain the trust of the public and create a bad impression on the Catholics. The letter, then, would explain how at the last minute the King and his officials knew where the plot was. But if you were to study the letter closer, there would be two vital problems with it that could doubt that the conspirators even knew about it. Firstly, the letter was unsigned, and the conspirators could claim that there was no proof that any of them signed it. But none of the conspirators who were caught appeared to have even known of the letter, and who gave the King a tip off. Secondly, the letter had no details in it whatsoever regarding the plans of the attack, thus indicating that someone outside the group could’ve written it. Yet however, the King and his officials knew exactly where the 36 barrels of gunpowder was hidden. It remains a mystery of who actually did write the letter.
The warning letter did in fact reach the King, and James made plans to stop the conspirators. On the 5th of November, the authorities by order of the King charged in to the cellars, where Guy Fawkes had hidden 36 barrels of gunpowder. Some think that even if the plan had succeeded, the gunpowder may not have blown up because how old it was. For two days, Guido was the only suspect in custody and his name became identical with the Powder Treason, as the Gunpowder Plot was known at the time. Soon after, the other conspirators tried to flee from London but were either caught or they surrendered. Others, including Robert Catesby were killed during a siege a few days after the failed plot.
The remaining conspirators were imprisoned, tortured and executed. Only Francis Tresham was lucky as he fell sick and died whilst in prison. The Plotters confessed under pressure everything they knew in hope that the authorities would end their suffering. The authorities received doubtful information that the conspirators sometimes emphasized in trying to convince the authorities that they should be let go.
All the imprisoned conspirators were publicly executed in March 1607. They were first hanged, then drawn and quartered. The King hoped that these ways of execution would inspire terror amongst the public and other traitors, and prevent further plots.