Tomorrow night, November 5, is when many in England will celebrate an occasion known as Bonfire Night. They celebrate this day to mark the moment King James I was saved from the Gunpowder Plot (along with many in his government) when Guy Fawkes was thwarted in his attempt to blow up England’s Parliament using gunpowder hidden beneath the building during an official government meeting. The event was a terrorist attack of the 17th century, to put the plot in contemporary terms, and the aftermath in England impacted William Shakespeare personally. Newly minted as the King’s Men in 1603, the gunpowder plot is taking place just two years later, in 1605. Just one month after the Gunpowder Plot in December of 1605, Shakespeare writes King Lear, which contains many nods to the state of James’ government, but the real play most connected to The Gunpowder Plot has to be Macbeth, which I argue was the play whose performance would silence all doubt about William Shakespeare’s involvement, or suspected treasonous connections, in the aftermath of The Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Here today to walk us through the history of this event, and help us understand how the Gunpowder Plot connected to Shakespeare, is our guest, James Travers.
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James Travers is Cultural Property Manager at The National Archives in London. As an author he specialises in analysing the language of historical sources and discovering hidden literary gems in the collections at The National Archives and elsewhere. He has published four history titles with a literary twist, A Blackmailer at Frogmore: The Adventures of Queen Caroline’s Ghost (Amberley Books 2022) Gunpowder Plot: Terror in Shakespeare’s England (Amberley Books 2019) Gunpowder: The Players behind the Plot (National Archives, 2005), and James I: The Masque of Monarchy (National Archives, 2003). He regularly engages in media work within his field of expertise and was historical consultant on the BBC’s ‘Gunpowder 5/11: The Greatest Terror Plot’ (2014) and Lucy Worsley Investigates – Gunpowder Plot (2024)
I’ll be asking James Travers about:
- In addition to Guy Fawkes, who is the poster criminal for this foiled plot, who were the players involved in hatching this plan to destroy the government?
- There are some interesting connections to Shakespeare and the Gunpowder Plot I want to explore, and let’s start with the plotters themselves. James, did the plotters quote Shakespeare in their letters?
- We think of Shakespeare as living a sort of calm life in Stratford upon Avon, or certainly that his time there was an escape from London where we consider more “action” to be taking place, but James, explain for us how living in Warwickshire, in particular, might have placed Shakespeare on the front lines of the Gunpowder Plot controversy?
- …and more!
Books and Resources James Travers recommends:
In addition to my own book I would recommend the 2014 Docudrama ‘Gunpowder 5/11 The Greatest Terror Plot https://www.tudorsociety.com/gunpowder-511-the-greatest-terror-plot-video/
He was historical consultant on this and is an accessible version of the plot.
Written sources would include Mark Nicholls ‘Investigating Gunpowder Plot’ (Manchester University Press 1991), Jesse Childs ‘God’s Traitors’ (Bodley Head 2014) and of course dear old Antonia Fraser ‘The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605’ (London 1997).
The best remote access to the original sources at The National Archives and Hatfield House is via State Parts Online https://www.gale.com/intl/primary-sources/state-papers-online which is subscription only but widely available through research institutions. (Cassidy Note: The National Archives has many abbreviated options available online. See links below)
By the time your podcast goes out, the programme I mention in my short biography ‘Lucy Worsley Investigates: Gunpowder Plot’ should be available in the US via PBS. That’s being filmed at the moment.
Additional Resources Recommended by Cassidy:
The National Archives | The Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle’s Letter by Henry Hawkes
UK Parliament’s website on the Gunpowder Plotters
The Night William Shakespeare Narrowly Escaped Treason by Cassidy Cash
Here’s what’s available for this episode:
- Portrait of Henry Percy
- Portrait of Edmund Campion
- Portrait of Wiliam Wadd/Wade (interrogated Guy Fawkes)
- Primary document record of Guy Fawkes’ confession before he was tortured
- Primary document of Guy Fawke’s confession (again) after torture
- Record of the interrogation of John Johnson, a plotter
- Illustration of the undercroft where Guy Fawkes was caught
- Engraving of conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot being hanged, drawn and quartered in London.
- Document where the plotters claim that Lady Elizabeth (eldest daughter of King James) was to be kidnapped in the event of a successful Gunpowder Plot, and the Lady Elizabeth placed on the throne as Queen.
- Portrait of Sir Edward Coke, Solicitor General under Elizabeth I and ally of Robert Cecil
- 1916 illustration of Guy Fawkes and the other plotters
- Comparison of Guy Fawke’s two signatures, one severely damaged after being tortured
- Diagram of Parliament with Guy Fawke’s cellar labeled
- Letter to Lord Monteagle warning of the plot and telling James I to get out of Parliament
- Image of the lantern used by Guy Fawkes, held at the Ashmolean Museum
- Proclamation by James I calling for the arrest of Thomas Percy
- Primary document of the Statement by Thomas Wintour incriminating Robert Catesby, Percy, and John Grant, among others.
- Illustration of Guy Fawkes being interrogated by James I after the Gunpowder Plot
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That Shakespeare Life is always excited to connect with fellow Shakespeareans who love learning something new about the bard. Subscribe to our show on your favorite listening platform, and please consider leaving us a rating and a review to help our show reach new listeners!
That’s it for this week! Thank you for listening! I’m Cassidy Cash and I hope you learn something new about the bard.
I’ll see you next time!
