Henry Garnet was the Jesuit priest executed in 1606 after being accused of involvement in the Gunpowder Plot.
Garnet was the superior of the Jesuit mission in England and had contact with some Catholic conspirators. He learned about the plot through the sacrament of confession, creating a difficult conflict between religious confidentiality and the danger posed by the planned attack.
He did not take part in the practical preparations for the explosion. Nevertheless, the government treated his knowledge and relationships with Catholic plotters as evidence of complicity. Garnet was arrested, tried, and executed at St Paul’s Churchyard on 3 May 1606.
His case illustrates the wider religious and political consequences of the plot. The government used the conspiracy to justify stronger anti-Catholic measures, while later Catholic and historical accounts debated how much Garnet knew and what he could lawfully reveal.