Robert Catesby was the principal organiser of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot commemorated on Bonfire Night.
Catesby was an English Catholic gentleman who assembled the conspiracy against James I after becoming convinced that peaceful efforts to improve the position of English Catholics had failed. He recruited experienced Catholic plotters, including Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy and Guy Fawkes.
The plan was to destroy the House of Lords during the state opening of Parliament, kill the king and government, and begin a Catholic uprising. Catesby helped arrange the purchase and storage of gunpowder, while Fawkes was chosen to handle the explosives because of his military experience.
After the plot was discovered, Catesby fled with several surviving conspirators. He was killed at Holbeche House in Staffordshire on 8 November 1605. Guy Fawkes became the better-known name in popular celebrations, but Catesby was the conspiracy’s driving force.