Who was the leader of the Gunpowder Plot?

Robert Catesby was the leader of the Gunpowder Plot. He devised the plan to kill the Protestant King James I and destroy the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament in 1605.

Catesby came from a prominent Catholic family in Warwickshire and had already taken part in the failed Essex Rebellion of 1601. After James’s accession did not bring the religious toleration many Catholics had hoped for, Catesby recruited Thomas Wintour, John Wright, Thomas Percy and Guy Fawkes.

Fawkes became the plot’s most famous name because he was caught with the explosives, but he was not its leader. Catesby handled the central planning, recruitment and much of the financing. The conspirators intended to trigger a revolt in the Midlands and place Princess Elizabeth on the throne.

After Fawkes’s arrest, Catesby fled with several companions. He was mortally wounded during a gunfight at Holbeche House on 8 November 1605. His body was later exhumed and decapitated, and his head was displayed outside Parliament as a warning.