Bushwood Hall, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, England
Died
8 November 1605 (aged 32–33)
Holbeche House, Staffordshire, England
Cause of death
Gunshot wound
Other names
Mr Roberts, Robin Catesby
Spouse
Catherine Leigh
Children
William and Robert
Parent(s)
William and Anne (née Throckmorton) Catesby
Motive
Gunpowder plot, a conspiracy to assassinate King James VI & I and members of the Houses of Parliament
Criminal penalty
Exhumation, decapitation
Role
Leader
Robert Catesby (c. 1572 – 8 November 1605) was the leader of a group of English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Born in Warwickshire, Catesby was educated at Oxford University. His family were prominent recusant Catholics, and presumably to avoid swearing the Oath of Supremacy he left college before taking his degree. He married a Protestant in 1593 and fathered two children, one of whom survived birth and was baptised in a Protestant church. In 1601 he took part in the Essex Rebellion but was captured and fined, after which he sold his estate at Chastleton.
The Protestant James I, who became King of England in 1603, was less tolerant of Catholics than many persecuted Recusants had hoped. Catesby therefore planned a decapitation strike which he considered tyrannicide, aimed at the Government of England; by blowing up the King and the House of Lords with gunpowder during the State Opening of Parliament. The assassination of the King was to be the prelude to a popular uprising aimed at regime change, through which a Catholic monarch would be seated upon the English throne. Early in 1604, Catesby began to recruit other Catholics to his cause, including Thomas Wintour, John Wright, Thomas Percy, and Guy Fawkes. Over the following months, Fawkes helped to recruit a further eight conspirators into the plot, which, against the pleas of underground Jesuit superior Fr. Henry Garnet to cancel the plot, was scheduled to be carried out on 5 November 1605. Concerns about possible collateral damage caused an anonymous letter of warning to be sent to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, who alerted the authorities. On the night before the planned explosion, Fawkes was arrested underneath the House of Parliament while guarding 38 barrels of gunpowder. News of his arrest caused the other plotters to flee London, warning Catesby along their way.
With a much-diminished group of followers, Catesby made a last stand at Holbeche House in Staffordshire (the modern-day Kingswinford suburb of Wall Heath), against a 200-strong Sheriff's posse led by Richard Walsh. Catesby was mortally wounded by gunfire and later found dead inside Holbeche Hall, while contemplating a holy card of the Virgin Mary. As a warning to other potential regicides, Catesby's body was exhumed, posthumously executed, and his severed head on a spike was displayed outside the Houses of Parliament.
RobertCatesby (c. 1572 – 8 November 1605) was the leader of a group of English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Born in Warwickshire...
Brothers, they were related to other conspirators, such as their cousin, RobertCatesby, and a half-brother, John Wintour, also joined them following the plot's...
the West End play War Horse. He developed, produced, and starred as RobertCatesby in the 2017 BBC drama series Gunpowder. His film roles include the historical...
regicide against King James I by a group of English Catholics led by RobertCatesby who considered their actions attempted tyrannicide and who sought regime...
of St Winefride's Well in Holywell, Wales. About this time, he met RobertCatesby, who was planning to blow up the House of Lords with gunpowder as an...
Wintour, with whom he returned to England. Wintour introduced him to RobertCatesby, who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch...
RobertCatesby, a member of the English nobility who, unknown to him, planned to assassinate the Protestant King James I. The existence of Catesby's Gunpowder...
William Catesby (1450 – 25 August 1485) was one of Richard III of England's principal councillors. He also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Speaker...
conspirators Keyes was not a particularly wealthy man. He was trusted by RobertCatesby, the plot's author, with guarding the explosives stored at the latter's...
and I of England by a group of provincial English Catholics led by RobertCatesby. The conspirators' aim was to blow up the House of Lords at the State...
Catesby may refer to: Catesby, Northamptonshire, England, a civil parish Catesby, Oklahoma, United States, an unincorporated community Catesby (surname)...
his confession, Tresham joined the plot in October 1605. Its leader, RobertCatesby, asked him to provide a large sum of money and the use of Rushton Hall...
along with other recusants or converts, including, among others, Sir RobertCatesby, Christopher Wright, John Wright and Thomas Percy, was arrested and...
John was one of the first men to join the conspiracy, which was led by RobertCatesby. Christopher joined in March 1605. At about midnight on 4 November Fawkes...
least two sons. He was enlisted into the plot in September 1605 by RobertCatesby, a religious zealot whose impatience with James' treatment of English...
has a major flight of locks. Catesby Lane in Lapworth is named after William Catesby (the great grandfather of RobertCatesby of Gunpowder Plot fame), whose...
Bates was born at Lapworth in Warwickshire, and became a retainer to RobertCatesby, who from 1604 planned to kill King James I by blowing up the House...
against the throne. The sons of his daughters Anne and Muriel, were RobertCatesby and Francis Tresham of Gunpowder Plot fame, while a third daughter,...
me, Tom, and we will die together." — RobertCatesby, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (8 November 1605). Catesby and Thomas Percy were shot by armed men...
remember, the Fifth of November". 8 November – Gunpowder Plot conspirator RobertCatesby is among those shot while plotters are being arrested at Holbeche House...
Warwickshire borders, is a great country mansion built on property bought from RobertCatesby, who was one of the men involved in the Gunpowder Plot with Guy Fawkes...
Belligerents Gunpowder plotters Government posse Commanders and leaders RobertCatesby † Richard Walsh Strength 11 men 200 soldiers and militia Casualties...
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