Source two suggests that Guy Had to be forced into “confessing” this is suggested because the degree of torture had to increase. However it also indicates that the king did not know about the treason so had to force it out of Guy.
Source three says that he was going to blow the houses of parliament up later in the meeting, after the king had arrived, this could be taken that the King planned this to make it look like the plotters were against the King. It then says, “So it might blow up a quarter of an hour later,” This could be that it was a
member of parliament who organised the plot and by giving time for it to blow up it gave them a chance of escaping from the Houses of Parliament. However, this called also be seen that he said, “might” to try and make it seem indefinite so he may get a less cruel punishment.
Source four is very useful because the signature changes so it seems that it was not actually Guy Fawkes’ real signature on the confession. However this could also be seen that he was in too much pain to write properly. It is very limiting because although you can get some you cannot get much information from source two: two signatures.
Most of the sources give information that could suggest that Guy Fawkes and the Catholics were framed. Source one has lots of information suggesting that the Gunpowder plot was planned to frame the Catholics. A few examples of this suggestion are: “Foul play” and “The government secretly spun a web” also “entangle these poor gentlemen.” These phrases suggest the government set up this treason to make Catholics look bad.
Source two also could suggest that the Government planned the plot, this can be seen because, He has to use torture to make Guy Fawkes ‘confess’. However this could also be seen that the king had to get the truth out of Guy because he did not know.
Source three disagrees with the “Guy Fawkes’ and the Catholics were framed” theory because it is a confession that he did do it. Source three agrees with the traditional story.
Source four is two signatures one is Guy’s normal signature the other is the signature on the confession. This could be seen that the signature on Guy’s confession was forged, however it could also be that Guy was in too much pain from being tortured to do his normal signature.
Source five is a letter received by Lord Mounteagle on the only night he was at his London house in 1605 this suggests that it must have been somebody close to Lord Mounteagle to know the day he was at his London home and to want to warn him about the plot.
Source six is a list of facts about what happened and information about gunpowder at the time. Source six agrees with the ‘Guy Fawkes’ was framed’ Theory this is shown because most of the facts imply that the government were involved in some way for example all gunpowder was kept in the tower of London at the time so only someone with high power could have got he gunpowder used in the plot. Also the gunpowder used was stored in the cellar next to the houses of parliament, but this cellar was rented by John Whynniard, a kings official and friend of Cecil. This could indicate that Whynniard was involved he was someone with a great deal of power, so it could have been organised by him. Again it is brought up that Lord Mounteagle told the King about the letter he received (Source five) on the October 27th but the King took no action until the November 4th. This could have been because he was involved and wanted to leave it to the last minute to make him seem even better when he ‘discovered’ the plot. The government knew were the plotters were they rounded them all upon the 7th November and although none of the plotters tried to escape some were shot. This could have been because the people shot were putting the government at risk by threatening to tell. Only Francis Tresham was left free all the others were killed or captured quickly but he was left free until December 12th when he was taken to the Tower and died of a mysterious illness on December 23rd. This could have been because Francis was not a threat to the government but then his name was found out and they had to capture him or else it would look suspicious.
