Everard Digby
Encyclopedia
Sir Everard Digby was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot
of 1605. Although he was raised in a Protestant
household, and married a Protestant, Digby and his wife were converted to Catholicism by the Jesuit
priest John Gerard. In the autumn of 1605 he was part of a Catholic pilgrimage to the shrine of St Winefride's Well
in Holywell
. About this time he met Robert Catesby
, a religious fanatic who planned to blow up the House of Lords with gunpowder, killing James I
. Catesby then planned to incite a popular revolt, during which a Catholic monarch would be restored to the English throne.
The full extent of Digby's knowledge of and involvement in the plot is unknown, but on Catesby's behest Digby rented Coughton Court
and prepared a "hunting party", ready for the planned uprising. The plot failed however, and Digby joined the conspirators as they took flight through the Midlands
, failing to garner support along their way. Digby left the other fugitives at Holbeche House
in Staffordshire
, and was soon captured and taken to the Tower of London
.
Digby was tried on 27 January 1605. Despite an eloquent defence, he was found guilty of high treason
, and three days later was hanged, drawn and quartered
.
in Leicestershire
. He was also a cousin of Anne Vaux
, who for years placed herself at considerable risk by sheltering Jesuit priests such as Henry Garnet
. According to author Roy Digby Thomas, the Digby family may have been founded during the Norman conquest of England
, when William the Conqueror was accompanied by Almar, who settled at Tilton
in Rutland. Sir John Digby (d. 1269) served on two crusades
, and by 1418 Sir Everard "Greenleaf" Digby was Lord of Tilton and owner of the manor at Drystoke, and Rutland's member of Parliament. Sir Everard lost his life (and his family much of their fortune) fighting in 1461 for Henry VI
against Edward IV
. The family had a reversal of fortune in 1485 when Sir Everard's sons fought for the victorious Henry VII
at the Battle of Bosworth Field
. Digby may have been related to the 16th-century scholar, Everard Digby
.
In 1596, while still a teenager, he married Mary Mulshaw, a young heiress who brought with her Gayhurst House in Buckinghamshire
. By all accounts their marriage was a happy one, and they had two sons; Kenelm
was born in 1603 at Gayhurst, and John in 1605. Unlike other English Catholics, Digby had little first-hand experience of England's recusancy
laws. Following the death of his father he had been made a ward of Chancery
and was raised in a Protestant household. His wife Mary was converted to Catholicism by the Jesuit priest John Gerard. When Digby fell seriously ill, Gerard used the occasion to convert him also, and the two subsequently became close friends, "calling eachother 'brother' when we wrote and spoke". Gerard was godfather
to Digby's eldest son, Kenelm, and the Digbys also built a hidden chapel and sacristy
at Gayhurst.
Digby frequented the court of Elizabeth I
, and became informally associated with the Elizabethan gentlemen pensioners
. His marriage had significantly expanded his holdings, however, and possibly for this reason he left court to manage his estates. He was apparently an unforgiving landlord, as his tenants in Tilton petitioned the Crown for redress when he failed to honour the expensive leases granted them by his father. He added to his property in Buckinghamshire
by buying land in Great Missenden
, and a month after the queen's death his social station was elevated when on 24 April 1603 he was knighted by James I
at Belvoir Castle
. Four days later he was present for Elizabeth's funeral in London.
joined a pilgrimage organised by, amongst others, Henry Garnet
and Anne Vaux. The party had set out from White Webbs at Enfield Chase, heading for the shrine of St Winefride's Well
at Holywell
, and had occasionally stopped along the way to collect more followers. As the thirty or so pilgrims returned from Holywell in mid-September, they stopped at Rushton Hall where Sir Thomas Tresham
had recently died, and then continued on to Digby's seat at Gayhurst.
On 21 October Digby, his wife, Garnet and Vaux were at Harrowden celebrating a delayed Feast of St Luke
. While there he met Robert Catesby
, who at some point asked him to swear an oath of secrecy before introducing him to what later became known as the Gunpowder Plot. English Catholics had hoped that the years of persecution they suffered during Elizabeth's reign would end when James I
came to the throne, as his attitude appeared moderate, even tolerant towards Catholics. In Catesby's view however, James had reneged on his promises, and he had quickly lost patience with the new dynasty. He therefore planned to kill James by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder, and then inciting a popular revolt during which a Catholic monarch would be restored to the throne. Catesby had enlisted the aid of other Catholics, but had borne much of the scheme's financial cost and was running out of money. The group had therefore agreed to expand their numbers. To this end Catesby had recruited Ambrose Rookwood—a young and wealthy Catholic with a stable of fine horses—and a wealthy cousin, Francis Tresham
.
The extent of Digby's knowledge of the plot is unknown, but in the opinion of author Alan Haynes, Digby was shocked by what he heard, and asked what would become of some of their Catholic friends. Catesby replied "Assure your selfe that such of the nobilitie as are worth the saving shalbe preserved and yet knowe not of the matter." None of their friends would be caught in the explosion. He asked if Catesby had spoken of the matter with Garnet, or any other Jesuits; although Catesby was in no doubt that the Jesuits disapproved of any such action, he lied and said that he would not act without their approbation. Catesby then named the other conspirators, and promised Digby that as soon as they reached Gayhurst he would demonstrate that their religion allowed such acts of regicide, thus dissuading the young lord from confessing to Garnet and discovering the Jesuit's opinion of the matter. Catesby told him to rent Coughton Court
from the head of the Throckmorton family, so that he would "the better to be able to do good to the cause [kidnap Princess Elizabeth]". From there, he was to organise a hunting party (in reality a group of armed men on horseback) and be ready for some kind of military manoeuvre. Digby also provided monetary assistance; he promised £1,500 after fellow plotter Thomas Percy
failed to pay the rent due for several properties in Westminster.
Two days later Digby and his servants were ensconced at the Red Lion inn, in Dunchurch
, where his hunt was to take place. He took with him several items of clothing, including "a white satin doublet cut with purple". Also present, but uninvolved, were his uncle, Sir Robert Digby, Humphrey Littleton
and his nephew Stephen Littleton. They ate supper, before being joined by fellow conspirator John Grant
and a friend. Also invited was the stepbrother of plotters Robert and Thomas Wintour
, John Wintour. They attended a mass the next morning, conducted by a Father Hammond, before the party moved on.
Around midnight on 4 November, Guy Fawkes
was discovered guarding the gunpowder the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords, and arrested. Those conspirators still in London soon took flight for the Midlands, finding along the way those who had already left to prepare for the planned uprising. They met Digby and his party at Dunchurch. Catesby told Digby that the king and Salisbury
were dead, and "if true Catholics would now stir, he doubted not that they might procure to themselves good conditions". Digby was won over, but many of his party were less than impressed at being so badly deceived, and worse, being associated with treason. One of his servants asked Digby what would happen to them; Digby told him that although he was aware of their ignorance, "but now there is no remedy".
and managed to secure more horses, before moving on to Norbrook to collect stored weapons. From there they continued their journey toward Huddington
. Catesby ordered his servant (and fellow plotter) Thomas Bates
to deliver a letter to Father Garnet at Coughton Court
. Catesby and Digby asked Garnet to excuse their recklessness, before asking for his help in raising an army in Wales. Garnet's reply begged them to stop their "wicked actions", and to listen to the Pope's teachings. When the priest tried to comfort Mary Digby, also at Coughton Court, she burst into tears.
With their ever-decreasing band of supporters, the remaining fugitives arrived at Huddington at about 2:00 pm. Any expectation they had of support began to vanish; almost everyone they met showed concern only for their own safety, fearful of being involved with traitors. The next morning they rode through the rain, stopping briefly to help themselves to supplies from the home of the absent Lord Windsor at Hewell Grange
. Still the locals refused to have anything to do with them; Digby later admitted that "not one man" joined them. They arrived that night at Holbeche House
on the border of Staffordshire
, and tired and desperate, spread out some of the now-soaked gunpowder in front of the fire, to dry out. A spark from the fire landed on the powder and the resultant flames engulfed Catesby, Rookwood, Grant, and another man.
, John Wright
and his brother Christopher were killed by the Sheriff of Worcester
's men early on 8 November, but Digby had already left to give himself up (the only conspirator to do so). With two servants, possibly Bates and his son, he took several horses and hid in nearby woods. Their tracks were soon found however, and with some hesitation (Digby had intended to surrender himself to someone more worthy), early that morning he presented himself to the most senior-looking of his adversaries. While Digby was taken to the Tower of London, Gayhurst was ransacked; the servants' belongings were stolen, the livestock was sold cheaply, and Mary Digby was left destitute. The sheriff later remarked "All goods are carried away, even to the very floor of the great parlour." At the Tower, Digby's two trunks of clothing were searched, and found to contain £100 in gold, and £50 in white money
. William Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower, asked if he could take £50 to pay for Digby's food and bedding.
Digby unsuccessfully sought an audience with James to try and explain himself, in Fraser's opinion suggesting either that the extent of his involvement was limited, or that he was "astonishingly naive and trusting of his sovereign's forgiveness." While imprisoned he busied himself with writing secret letters, smuggled from the Tower and not rediscovered until Kenelm Digby
's death in 1675. Although he was fortunate not to suffer the fate of Guy Fawkes, who was tortured on several occasions, one of these letters hints that it had been "in a fashion, offered". He described his refusal to cooperate with his interrogators, boasted of his deceit, and how there was nothing he could do to make the plot appear less abhorrent to fellow Catholics. Digby also carved an inscription on the wall of his cell, extant as of 1996.
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Digby was tried on the same day as seven of his surviving co-conspirators, in Westminster Hall, on Monday 27 January 1606. As the king and his family watched in secret, the charges against the plotters were read aloud. Alone amongst them Digby pleaded "Guilty", and was tried on a separate indictment. Dressed in a black satin suit and "tuff taffetie gown", he gave a short and moving speech, defending his actions by explaining his affection for Catesby, and the cause of his religion. He accused King James of reneging on his promises of toleration for Catholics, and told of his fears of harsher laws against recusancy. He also pleaded on behalf of his family, that they should not pay for his actions, before making a final request to be beheaded. His words fell on mostly deaf ears. The prosecution poured scorn on James's supposed perfidy, and ridiculed Digby for asking for leniency where he would have given none. Along with the other plotters, he was found guilty. As they were led from the hall, Digby exclaimed: "If I may but hear any of your lordships say, you forgive me, I shall go more cheerfully to the gallows." The reply came back, "God forgive you, and we do."
He spent his last few days in the Tower writing letters to his wife and his sons, urging the two brothers to avoid the examples set by figures such as Cain and Abel
. He also wrote poetry:
Digby was hanged, drawn and quartered
early on Thursday 30 January. Throngs of spectators lined the streets as he was strapped to a wattled
hurdle
, and alongside Robert Wintour and John Grant was dragged by horse to the western end of Old St Paul's Cathedral
churchyard. Thomas Bates was delivered in a similar fashion, but from the Gatehouse Prison
. Armed guards interspersed along the route were there to defend against any possible rescue, but did not keep the miscreants' families from witnessing the fate of the four men. Cold and grubby, Digby was the first of the four to face the executioner. He mounted the scaffold and addressed the audience, telling them that he knew he had broken the law, but that morally, and in the eyes of his religion, he had committed no offence. He asked for God's forgiveness, and the country's, and protested the Jesuits' and Father Gerard's innocence. He refused the attentions of a Protestant clergyman, speaking to himself in Latin, before saying goodbye to his friends.
Digby was then stripped of his clothing, except for his shirt. Murmuring "O Jesus, Jesus, save me and keep me", he climbed the ladder and was hanged for a short period. The executioner cut the rope, and Digby fell back to the scaffold, wounding his forehead. Fully conscious, he was taken to the block and castrated, disembowelled, and quartered. Wintour, Grant and Bates followed. The remaining four conspirators suffered similar fates the following day, at the Old Palace Yard
in Westminster.
Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.The plan was to blow up the House of...
of 1605. Although he was raised in a Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
household, and married a Protestant, Digby and his wife were converted to Catholicism by the Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
priest John Gerard. In the autumn of 1605 he was part of a Catholic pilgrimage to the shrine of St Winefride's Well
St Winefride's Well
St Winefride's Well is a holy well located in Holywell, in Flintshire in North Wales. It is the oldest continually visited pilgrimage site in Great Britain....
in Holywell
Holywell
Holywell is the fifth largest town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying to the west of the estuary of the River Dee.-History:The market town of Holywell takes its name from the St Winefride's Well, a holy well surrounded by a chapel...
. About this time he met Robert Catesby
Robert Catesby
Robert Catesby , was the leader of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605....
, a religious fanatic who planned to blow up the House of Lords with gunpowder, killing James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
. Catesby then planned to incite a popular revolt, during which a Catholic monarch would be restored to the English throne.
The full extent of Digby's knowledge of and involvement in the plot is unknown, but on Catesby's behest Digby rented Coughton Court
Coughton Court
Coughton Court is an English Tudor country house, situated on the main road between Studley and Alcester in Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building....
and prepared a "hunting party", ready for the planned uprising. The plot failed however, and Digby joined the conspirators as they took flight through the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
, failing to garner support along their way. Digby left the other fugitives at Holbeche House
Holbeche House
Holbeche House is a mansion located near Kingswinford, on the borders of Staffordshire. It is the building in which some of the central Gunpowder plotters were captured, and the rest killed.-Gunpowder Plot:...
in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, and was soon captured and taken to the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
.
Digby was tried on 27 January 1605. Despite an eloquent defence, he was found guilty of high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
, and three days later was hanged, drawn and quartered
Hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...
.
Early life
Everard Digby was the son of Everard Digby, and Maria Digby (née Neale), daughter of Francis Neale of KeythorpeTugby and Keythorpe
Tugby and Keythorpe is a parish comprising the village of Tugby and land surrounding Keythorpe Grange, Keythorpe Hall, Hall Farm and Lodge Farm in Leicestershire, England, part of Harborough District....
in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
. He was also a cousin of Anne Vaux
Anne Vaux
Anne Vaux was a wealthy Catholic recusant, the third daughter of William Vaux, 3rd Baron Vaux of Harrowden and his first wife, Elizabeth. She and her sister Eleanor Brooksby supported Catholic priests by renting houses where priests could convene safely...
, who for years placed herself at considerable risk by sheltering Jesuit priests such as Henry Garnet
Henry Garnet
Henry Garnet , sometimes Henry Garnett, was a Jesuit priest executed for his complicity in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Born in Derbyshire, he was educated in Nottingham and later at Winchester College, before moving to London in 1571 to work for a publisher...
. According to author Roy Digby Thomas, the Digby family may have been founded during the Norman conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
, when William the Conqueror was accompanied by Almar, who settled at Tilton
Tilton on the Hill
Tilton on the Hill is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire. It lies 2 miles north of the A47, on the B6047 to Melton Mowbray. Halstead civil parish was merged with Tilton in 1935, while the deserted medieval village of Whatborough was merged in 1994...
in Rutland. Sir John Digby (d. 1269) served on two crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, and by 1418 Sir Everard "Greenleaf" Digby was Lord of Tilton and owner of the manor at Drystoke, and Rutland's member of Parliament. Sir Everard lost his life (and his family much of their fortune) fighting in 1461 for Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
against Edward IV
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
. The family had a reversal of fortune in 1485 when Sir Everard's sons fought for the victorious Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
at the Battle of Bosworth Field
Battle of Bosworth Field
The Battle of Bosworth Field was the penultimate battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians...
. Digby may have been related to the 16th-century scholar, Everard Digby
Everard Digby (scholar)
Everard Digby was an English academic theologian, expelled as a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge for reasons that were largely religious. He is known as the author of a 1587 book, written in Latin, that was the first work published in England on swimming; and also as a philosophical teacher,...
.
In 1596, while still a teenager, he married Mary Mulshaw, a young heiress who brought with her Gayhurst House in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. By all accounts their marriage was a happy one, and they had two sons; Kenelm
Kenelm Digby
Sir Kenelm Digby was an English courtier and diplomat. He was also a highly reputed natural philosopher, and known as a leading Roman Catholic intellectual and Blackloist. For his versatility, Anthony à Wood called him the "magazine of all arts".-Early life and career:He was born at Gayhurst,...
was born in 1603 at Gayhurst, and John in 1605. Unlike other English Catholics, Digby had little first-hand experience of England's recusancy
Recusancy
In the history of England and Wales, the recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services. The individuals were known as "recusants"...
laws. Following the death of his father he had been made a ward of Chancery
Ward (law)
In law, a ward is someone placed under the protection of a legal guardian. A court may take responsibility for the legal protection of an individual, usually either a child or incapacitated person, in which case the ward is known as a ward of the court, or a ward of the state, in the United States,...
and was raised in a Protestant household. His wife Mary was converted to Catholicism by the Jesuit priest John Gerard. When Digby fell seriously ill, Gerard used the occasion to convert him also, and the two subsequently became close friends, "calling eachother 'brother' when we wrote and spoke". Gerard was godfather
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
to Digby's eldest son, Kenelm, and the Digbys also built a hidden chapel and sacristy
Sacristy
A sacristy is a room for keeping vestments and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.The sacristy is usually located inside the church, but in some cases it is an annex or separate building...
at Gayhurst.
Digby frequented the court of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, and became informally associated with the Elizabethan gentlemen pensioners
Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms
Her Majesty's Bodyguard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms is a bodyguard to the British Monarch. Until 17 March 1834 they were known as The Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners.-Formation:...
. His marriage had significantly expanded his holdings, however, and possibly for this reason he left court to manage his estates. He was apparently an unforgiving landlord, as his tenants in Tilton petitioned the Crown for redress when he failed to honour the expensive leases granted them by his father. He added to his property in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
by buying land in Great Missenden
Great Missenden
Great Missenden is a large village in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover. It closely adjoins the villages of Little Missenden and Prestwood. The narrow High Street is bypassed by the main A413 London to...
, and a month after the queen's death his social station was elevated when on 24 April 1603 he was knighted by James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
at Belvoir Castle
Belvoir Castle
Belvoir Castle is a stately home in the English county of Leicestershire, overlooking the Vale of Belvoir . It is a Grade I listed building....
. Four days later he was present for Elizabeth's funeral in London.
Robert Catesby
In late August or early September 1605, Digby, his wife and their secret Jesuit chaplain Edward OldcorneEdward Oldcorne
Blessed Edward Oldcorne or Oldcorn alias Hall was an English Jesuit priest. He was known to people who knew of the Gunpowder Plot to destroy the Parliament of England and kill King James I, and, although his involvement is unclear, he was caught up in the subsequent investigation...
joined a pilgrimage organised by, amongst others, Henry Garnet
Henry Garnet
Henry Garnet , sometimes Henry Garnett, was a Jesuit priest executed for his complicity in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Born in Derbyshire, he was educated in Nottingham and later at Winchester College, before moving to London in 1571 to work for a publisher...
and Anne Vaux. The party had set out from White Webbs at Enfield Chase, heading for the shrine of St Winefride's Well
St Winefride's Well
St Winefride's Well is a holy well located in Holywell, in Flintshire in North Wales. It is the oldest continually visited pilgrimage site in Great Britain....
at Holywell
Holywell
Holywell is the fifth largest town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying to the west of the estuary of the River Dee.-History:The market town of Holywell takes its name from the St Winefride's Well, a holy well surrounded by a chapel...
, and had occasionally stopped along the way to collect more followers. As the thirty or so pilgrims returned from Holywell in mid-September, they stopped at Rushton Hall where Sir Thomas Tresham
Thomas Tresham II
Sir Thomas Tresham was a Catholic recusant politician at the end of the Tudor dynasty and the start of the Stuart dynasty in England....
had recently died, and then continued on to Digby's seat at Gayhurst.
On 21 October Digby, his wife, Garnet and Vaux were at Harrowden celebrating a delayed Feast of St Luke
Luke the Evangelist
Luke the Evangelist was an Early Christian writer whom Church Fathers such as Jerome and Eusebius said was the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles...
. While there he met Robert Catesby
Robert Catesby
Robert Catesby , was the leader of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605....
, who at some point asked him to swear an oath of secrecy before introducing him to what later became known as the Gunpowder Plot. English Catholics had hoped that the years of persecution they suffered during Elizabeth's reign would end when James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
came to the throne, as his attitude appeared moderate, even tolerant towards Catholics. In Catesby's view however, James had reneged on his promises, and he had quickly lost patience with the new dynasty. He therefore planned to kill James by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder, and then inciting a popular revolt during which a Catholic monarch would be restored to the throne. Catesby had enlisted the aid of other Catholics, but had borne much of the scheme's financial cost and was running out of money. The group had therefore agreed to expand their numbers. To this end Catesby had recruited Ambrose Rookwood—a young and wealthy Catholic with a stable of fine horses—and a wealthy cousin, Francis Tresham
Francis Tresham
Francis Tresham , eldest son of Sir Thomas Tresham and Merial Throckmorton, was a member of the group of English provincial catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to assassinate King James I of England...
.
The extent of Digby's knowledge of the plot is unknown, but in the opinion of author Alan Haynes, Digby was shocked by what he heard, and asked what would become of some of their Catholic friends. Catesby replied "Assure your selfe that such of the nobilitie as are worth the saving shalbe preserved and yet knowe not of the matter." None of their friends would be caught in the explosion. He asked if Catesby had spoken of the matter with Garnet, or any other Jesuits; although Catesby was in no doubt that the Jesuits disapproved of any such action, he lied and said that he would not act without their approbation. Catesby then named the other conspirators, and promised Digby that as soon as they reached Gayhurst he would demonstrate that their religion allowed such acts of regicide, thus dissuading the young lord from confessing to Garnet and discovering the Jesuit's opinion of the matter. Catesby told him to rent Coughton Court
Coughton Court
Coughton Court is an English Tudor country house, situated on the main road between Studley and Alcester in Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building....
from the head of the Throckmorton family, so that he would "the better to be able to do good to the cause [kidnap Princess Elizabeth]". From there, he was to organise a hunting party (in reality a group of armed men on horseback) and be ready for some kind of military manoeuvre. Digby also provided monetary assistance; he promised £1,500 after fellow plotter Thomas Percy
Thomas Percy (plotter)
Thomas Percy was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. A tall, physically impressive man, little is known of his early life beyond his matriculation in 1579 to Peterhouse College in Cambridge, and his marriage in 1591 to Martha Wright...
failed to pay the rent due for several properties in Westminster.
Hunting party
On 2 November at Gayhurst, while making preparations for his hunting party, Digby was visited by Gerard. Having noticed that the house was almost completely empty, the Jesuit asked him if there was "any matter in hand" and if Garnet knew of it. Keen not to implicate Gerard, despite being told less than two weeks earlier that the plot had Jesuit approval, Digby told him that there was nothing he knew of "or could tell him of". Although Gerard later used this conversation to defend himself against those who accused him of involvement in the plot, he lived to regret not being given the opportunity to dissuade Digby from his course.Two days later Digby and his servants were ensconced at the Red Lion inn, in Dunchurch
Dunchurch
Dunchurch is a civil parish and village on the south-western outskirts of Rugby in Warwickshire, England. The 2001 census recorded a population of 2,842 in the village.- History :...
, where his hunt was to take place. He took with him several items of clothing, including "a white satin doublet cut with purple". Also present, but uninvolved, were his uncle, Sir Robert Digby, Humphrey Littleton
Humphrey Littleton (plotter)
Humphrey Littleton died on 7 April 1606 at Red Hill outside Worcester. He was executed for his involvement in the Gunpowder plot. Robert Wintour and Stephen Littleton who had escaped from the fight at Holbeche House were captured at Hagley Park on the 9 January 1606 despite Littleton's protests...
and his nephew Stephen Littleton. They ate supper, before being joined by fellow conspirator John Grant
John Grant (Gunpowder plotter)
John Grant was a member of the failed Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to replace the Protestant King James I of England with a Catholic monarch. Grant was born around 1570, and lived at Norbrook in Warwickshire. He married the sister of another plotter, Thomas Wintour...
and a friend. Also invited was the stepbrother of plotters Robert and Thomas Wintour
Thomas Wintour
Robert Wintour and Thomas Wintour , also spelt Winter, were members of the Gunpowder Plot, a failed conspiracy to assassinate King James I. Both were related to other conspirators, such as their cousin, Robert Catesby, and a half-brother, John Wintour, also joined them following the plot's failure...
, John Wintour. They attended a mass the next morning, conducted by a Father Hammond, before the party moved on.
Around midnight on 4 November, Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes , also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries, belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.Fawkes was born and educated in York...
was discovered guarding the gunpowder the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords, and arrested. Those conspirators still in London soon took flight for the Midlands, finding along the way those who had already left to prepare for the planned uprising. They met Digby and his party at Dunchurch. Catesby told Digby that the king and Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician.-Life:He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke...
were dead, and "if true Catholics would now stir, he doubted not that they might procure to themselves good conditions". Digby was won over, but many of his party were less than impressed at being so badly deceived, and worse, being associated with treason. One of his servants asked Digby what would happen to them; Digby told him that although he was aware of their ignorance, "but now there is no remedy".
Flight
On 6 November the fugitives raided Warwick CastleWarwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a bend on the River Avon. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century,...
and managed to secure more horses, before moving on to Norbrook to collect stored weapons. From there they continued their journey toward Huddington
Huddington
Huddington is a village in Worcestershire, England.- Location :Huddington is located five miles east of Worcester and five miles south east of Droitwich Spa.- History & Amenities :...
. Catesby ordered his servant (and fellow plotter) Thomas Bates
Thomas Bates
Thomas Bates was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.Bates was born at Lapworth in Warwickshire, and became a retainer to Robert Catesby, who from 1604 planned to kill King James I by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder, and...
to deliver a letter to Father Garnet at Coughton Court
Coughton Court
Coughton Court is an English Tudor country house, situated on the main road between Studley and Alcester in Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building....
. Catesby and Digby asked Garnet to excuse their recklessness, before asking for his help in raising an army in Wales. Garnet's reply begged them to stop their "wicked actions", and to listen to the Pope's teachings. When the priest tried to comfort Mary Digby, also at Coughton Court, she burst into tears.
With their ever-decreasing band of supporters, the remaining fugitives arrived at Huddington at about 2:00 pm. Any expectation they had of support began to vanish; almost everyone they met showed concern only for their own safety, fearful of being involved with traitors. The next morning they rode through the rain, stopping briefly to help themselves to supplies from the home of the absent Lord Windsor at Hewell Grange
Hewell Grange
This article is about the Hewell Grange country house and estate. For Hewell Prison, see Hewell Hewell Grange is a country house in Tardebigge, Worcestershire, England....
. Still the locals refused to have anything to do with them; Digby later admitted that "not one man" joined them. They arrived that night at Holbeche House
Holbeche House
Holbeche House is a mansion located near Kingswinford, on the borders of Staffordshire. It is the building in which some of the central Gunpowder plotters were captured, and the rest killed.-Gunpowder Plot:...
on the border of Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, and tired and desperate, spread out some of the now-soaked gunpowder in front of the fire, to dry out. A spark from the fire landed on the powder and the resultant flames engulfed Catesby, Rookwood, Grant, and another man.
Surrender
Catesby and fellow conspirators Thomas PercyThomas Percy (plotter)
Thomas Percy was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. A tall, physically impressive man, little is known of his early life beyond his matriculation in 1579 to Peterhouse College in Cambridge, and his marriage in 1591 to Martha Wright...
, John Wright
John Wright (Gunpowder Plot)
John Wright , and Christopher Wright , were members of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to assassinate King James I by blowing up the House of Lords. Their sister married another plotter, Thomas Percy...
and his brother Christopher were killed by the Sheriff of Worcester
High Sheriff of Worcestershire
This is a list of Sheriff and since 1998 High Sheriffs of Worcestershire.The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been...
's men early on 8 November, but Digby had already left to give himself up (the only conspirator to do so). With two servants, possibly Bates and his son, he took several horses and hid in nearby woods. Their tracks were soon found however, and with some hesitation (Digby had intended to surrender himself to someone more worthy), early that morning he presented himself to the most senior-looking of his adversaries. While Digby was taken to the Tower of London, Gayhurst was ransacked; the servants' belongings were stolen, the livestock was sold cheaply, and Mary Digby was left destitute. The sheriff later remarked "All goods are carried away, even to the very floor of the great parlour." At the Tower, Digby's two trunks of clothing were searched, and found to contain £100 in gold, and £50 in white money
Argent
In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...
. William Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower, asked if he could take £50 to pay for Digby's food and bedding.
Digby unsuccessfully sought an audience with James to try and explain himself, in Fraser's opinion suggesting either that the extent of his involvement was limited, or that he was "astonishingly naive and trusting of his sovereign's forgiveness." While imprisoned he busied himself with writing secret letters, smuggled from the Tower and not rediscovered until Kenelm Digby
Kenelm Digby
Sir Kenelm Digby was an English courtier and diplomat. He was also a highly reputed natural philosopher, and known as a leading Roman Catholic intellectual and Blackloist. For his versatility, Anthony à Wood called him the "magazine of all arts".-Early life and career:He was born at Gayhurst,...
's death in 1675. Although he was fortunate not to suffer the fate of Guy Fawkes, who was tortured on several occasions, one of these letters hints that it had been "in a fashion, offered". He described his refusal to cooperate with his interrogators, boasted of his deceit, and how there was nothing he could do to make the plot appear less abhorrent to fellow Catholics. Digby also carved an inscription on the wall of his cell, extant as of 1996.
Trial and execution
He spent his last few days in the Tower writing letters to his wife and his sons, urging the two brothers to avoid the examples set by figures such as Cain and Abel
Cain and Abel
In the Hebrew Bible, Cain and Abel are two sons of Adam and Eve. The Qur'an mentions the story, calling them the two sons of Adam only....
. He also wrote poetry:
- Who's that which knocks? Oh stay, my Lord, I come:
- I know that call, since first it made me know
- Myself, which makes me now with joy to run
- Lest he be gone that can my duty show.
- Jesu, my Lord, I know thee by the Cross
- Thou offer'st me, but not unto my loss.
Digby was hanged, drawn and quartered
Hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...
early on Thursday 30 January. Throngs of spectators lined the streets as he was strapped to a wattled
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
hurdle
Hurdle
A hurdle is a moveable section of light fence. Traditionally they were made from wattle , but modern hurdles are often made of metal. Hurdles are used for handling livestock, as decorative fencing, for horse racing and in the track and field event of hurdling.-Types:*Traditional hurdles are made...
, and alongside Robert Wintour and John Grant was dragged by horse to the western end of Old St Paul's Cathedral
Old St Paul's Cathedral
Old St Paul's Cathedral is a name used to refer to the medieval cathedral of the City of London which until 1666 stood on the site of the present St Paul's Cathedral. Built between 1087 and 1314 and dedicated to St Paul, the cathedral was the fourth church on the site at Ludgate Hill...
churchyard. Thomas Bates was delivered in a similar fashion, but from the Gatehouse Prison
Gatehouse Prison
Gatehouse Prison was a prison in Westminster, built in 1370 as the gatehouse of Westminster Abbey and first used as a prison by the Abbot, a powerful churchman who held considerable power over the precincts and sanctuary...
. Armed guards interspersed along the route were there to defend against any possible rescue, but did not keep the miscreants' families from witnessing the fate of the four men. Cold and grubby, Digby was the first of the four to face the executioner. He mounted the scaffold and addressed the audience, telling them that he knew he had broken the law, but that morally, and in the eyes of his religion, he had committed no offence. He asked for God's forgiveness, and the country's, and protested the Jesuits' and Father Gerard's innocence. He refused the attentions of a Protestant clergyman, speaking to himself in Latin, before saying goodbye to his friends.
Digby was then stripped of his clothing, except for his shirt. Murmuring "O Jesus, Jesus, save me and keep me", he climbed the ladder and was hanged for a short period. The executioner cut the rope, and Digby fell back to the scaffold, wounding his forehead. Fully conscious, he was taken to the block and castrated, disembowelled, and quartered. Wintour, Grant and Bates followed. The remaining four conspirators suffered similar fates the following day, at the Old Palace Yard
Old Palace Yard
Old Palace Yard is immediately to the west of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, England, near the eastern end of Westminster Abbey. It provides pedestrian access to the Houses of Parliament via St Stephen's Entrance. A square of grass opposite is often used by television journalists...
in Westminster.