Antonia Fraser's Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot – A Review

Antonia Fraser's Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot speaks to a botched attempt by a group of English Catholics who sought to blow up Parliament in 1605. Their purpose was to ignite a domestic uprising that would require Spanish interference to mitigate maltreatment that was taking place within the Catholic religion and restore Catholicism to its natural place. Fraser's discussion is a timely chronicle fashioned to argue against historical sources that have purported the plot was mere fallacy.

Many adherents have often called the plot a trumped-up story, and Fraser seeks to dispel the myth. It is reasonable; she maintains that plots could have taken place in 1605 against Parliament. To clearly understand the nature of the famous event, it is necessary to recall the political atmosphere of the time. The literary work, Merchant of Venice, depicts this time as well. The former Elizabethan administration had successfully defended its own existence and the Protestant faith against able and powerful antagonists, but this had not been accomplished without enforcing severe measures of repression and punishment upon those who practice different faiths.   The plot was begun under the auspices of revenge against priests and those involved with the Church. 

To unearth the truth, Fraser, first describes the masterminded endeavor to kill King James, and institute a more Catholic affable government. The plot was begun by Robert Catesby. The plot itself was to be executed by renting a cellar, which would be filled with gunpowder hidden by lumber. Another individual by the name of Guy Fawkes would be chosen to set fire to the gunpowder on the House of Lords opening night. It was presupposed as a consequence of the blast that both the King and his two sons would be killed, which would in turn push Princess Elizabeth to lawfully become heir to the throne. There was apprehension however at the time as two lords, Lord Monteagle and Lord Salisbury became concerned about their friends in the House of Lords on the misgiving that something would occur, and they sent word to one of the King's advisors to be on the lookout for something to occur. As a result, the plot was terminated; however, Fawkes was not notified and was captured onsite on November 5, 1605; when the plot was to be executed.   Fraser then moves to discussing Fawkes subsequent arrest. 

Following his arrest, Fawkes was constantly tortured for information and a trial was held in 1606, along with seven other individuals who were charged with conspiring to the kill the King, Queen and Prince. They were also charged with sedition and inviting foreigners to make war against the King. As a result of these charges, the eight individuals were found guilty of treason and were hanged.   Fraser makes it relevant to mention that collaborators of Catesby who had helped him architect the plot were never found, and that it could have been an inside connection that created the plot to kill the King, Queen and Prince. The Gunpowder Plot is reflected upon in Ireland and by countries that resist the government in England; being considered a day of celebration.

Fraser argues that Lord Salisbury used the plot to concoct extravagant propaganda against the Jesuits, who Fraser states "had consistently counseled against rebellion."   This persuasive language in piecing together how Salisbury who was informed of the plot, set out to stage a campaign that included a doctrine of equivocation, which had been used by other meticulous Catholics as a way to reconcile their political allegiance. Fraser notes that King James wanted to thwart Catholic beliefs from having any particular dealings with England, thus, this meant that executions were unnecessary. To hinder the education of a new making of Catholics, much care was exercised to forbid any Catholic servants and schoolmasters. In spite of this inhibition, the objective was to eradicate the Catholic religion completely.  

 'Faith and Treason' is fashioned in a narrative style in an effort to read like a detective novel. Fraser seizes upon the opportunity to engross the reader in the personalities of the individuals involved in the plot, as well as the subsequent events through religion inspired reflection that is examined in extensive length. The book itself is a testament in fact to Shakespeare fans, especially those of Macbeth. Fraser "takes us elegantly through a brief history of the promises of Catholic toleration made by King James in Scotland before becoming James I of England and links the breaking of these promises to the frustration of several brave, if rash, Catholic men who took the fatal step from submissive subjects to incipient terrorists. At the heart of her story is Father Henry Garnet, the superior of Jesuits in England, who had pre-knowledge of the terrorists’ plans through a confession by terrorist leader Robert Catesby to another priest, Father Tesimond, who gained Catesby's permission to confess this burden to Father Garnet."   It is here where Fraser engenders Faith and Treason as a page turning diatribe that is replete with the workings of fictional avant-gardeness despite the book being written non-fictionally.  

Throughout the book, it is fair to say that Fraser is sensitive to casualties of the Catholic religion. She is bent on making it clear the conditions in which they struggled under English rule and it also bears mentioning that Fraser has minimal consideration for the would-be terrorists. Her reasoning as to why she is sympathetic is not overshadowed by the facts that are presented. "The story told here has been of Salisbury's foreknowledge -- at a comparatively late stage, thanks to the revelations of Francis Tresham repeated to Monteagle and his subsequent manipulation of the King by the stratagem of anonymous letter,"   Fraser writes. The history fashioned in the book is replete with contexts that are prime for historical thrill seekers. Fraser is undoubtedly poetic in her scripting especially in her compassion and genuineness towards the suffering of Catholics. "The desire to amass money was like a fierce universal lust in Jacobean period,"   Fraser states in her description of the Jacobean court and their plot to murder the King and his family.

With the plot being conceived by Catesby, Fraser takes enjoyment in expressing her disdain noting him as the "prince of darkness."   There are times in the book that Fraser is more apropos to sharply exemplify her novelist ability as seen in prior books of hers. One instance where this is evident is "but there is, to be blunt, something very fishy about the whole episode of the Monteagle letter which makes it difficult, if not outright impossible, to accept this straightforward explanation that some near relative of Monteagles wrote the warning letter. It seems far more plausible to see the Monteagle Letter as certainly dark and doubtful but also deliberately concocted."   Here, Fraser is unveiling the foundation to which the masterminds sought to wiggle out of their dilemma. Her description is right and thought-provoking because it is speaking to the hatred that many had for the King and his family during the early 1600s. 

It is clear by the middle of the book that the conspirators' fates are fated, even if one were not familiar with the event itself prior to opening. Fraser makes it clear that Father Garnet and others' deaths were an inescapable conclusion. What Fraser does flawlessly here is to cause the reader to question whether Garnet was racked with guilt or not given his pre-knowledge of the plot. There are some flourishes of kind poignancy woven into the fascinating tale she describes.

The most moving part of Fraser's book is the description of Father Garnet's behavior on the scaffold. It "is a masterpiece of human dignity in the face of monstrous malice. Fraser gives descriptions of the deaths of the actual conspirators, almost all of whom acted with bravery in their final hours."   Father Garnet however, Fraser notes, "acted with such dignity and sincerity that an odd thing happened. With a loud cry of hold, hold, the crowd stopped the hangman cutting down the body while Garnet was still alive. As a result, Father Garnet was perfectly dead when he was finally cut down and taken to the block."   It is here that Fraser speaks bluntly about her sympathy for the Catholic, who had pre-knowledge of the conspiracy. 

‘Faith and Treason’ by Antonia Fraser is dark, edgy and sated with chronological information on the gunpowder plot of 1605. For the doubters, Fraser seems intent on ensuring that once the book is completely read, that it will be very difficult to call the event a mere fabrication. There are too many facts and characters that were involved that to conclude that the event was mythic in context. One of her more narrative discourses of her repertoire, King Charles I  during the English Civil War being another, Fraser finds pleasure in chronicling accounts of events through uncanny prose and historical composition. 

Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot is not to be missed for those seeking to discover more about the players and perpetrators of the gunpowder plot, as well as those who revel in reading on the Tudor and Stuart periods of English history from an accomplished novelist that command attention for her compelling balance of lucidity and verve.

Bibliography

Fraser, Antonia . Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot. New York: Anchor Books, 1997.

Gray, Terry. Reviews, "A Review of Antonia Fraser's Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot." Accessed April 28, 2013. http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/Reviews/Gunpowder.htm.

Koeller, David. David W. Koeller, "The Gunpowder Plot:1605." Accessed April 28, 2013. http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/westeurope/GunPowder.html.