Birth of Robert Catesby
Birth of Robert Catesby
Historical biography archive · Updated 2026-11-03
Robert Catesby Biography and Timeline
Follow Robert Catesby through 32 dated historical records for England.
Robert Catesby, historical timeline
A chronological timeline drawn from matching World History Database records.
32Distinct records
1 of 1Page
1573–1605Years on this page
1573
1581
Trial
Robert Cateby is tried in Star Chamber alongside William Vaux, 3rd Baron Vaux of Harrowden, and his brother-in-law Sir Thomas Tresham, for harbouring the Jesuit Edmund Campion
1586
Education
Educated at Gloucester Hall in Oxford, a college noted for its Catholic intake
1596
Arrest of Robert Catesby
Catesby is arrested because of his Catholic sympathies during Elizabeth Is illness
1601
Essex Rebellion
Involved in the failed Essex rebellion
Rebellion of failed Essex
Involved in the failed Essex rebellion
Essex Rebellion
Hoped that if Essex succeeded, there might be a Catholic monarch, the rebellion is a failure however, and the wounded Catesby is captured, imprisoned and fined 4,000 marks (equivalent to over pounds 6 million as of 2008)
Essex Rebellion
Sir Thomas Tresham helps pay some of Catesbys fine, following which Catesby sells his estate at Chastleton
Essex Rebellion
Along with several other conspirators, he took part in the Earl of Essexs rebellion in 1601, during which he was wounded and captured
1603
Gunpowder Treason Plot
Thomas Percy meets with Robert Catesby, a religious zealot similarly unimpressed with the new royal dynasty, & joins Catesbys conspiracy to kill the king and his ministers by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder
Gunpowder Treason Plot
Catesby helped to organise a mission to the new king of Spain, Philip III, urging Philip to launch an invasion attempt on England, which they assured him would be well supported, particularly by the English Catholics.
Gunpowder Treason Plot
Thomas Percy meets with Robert Catesby, a religious zealot similarly unimpressed with the new royal dynasty, & joins Catesbys conspiracy to kill the king and his ministers by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder.
Invasion of England
Catesby helped to organise a mission to the new king of Spain, Philip III, urging Philip to launch an invasion attempt on England, which they assured him would be well supported, particularly by the English Catholics.
Invasion of England
Robert Catesby may have sent Christopher Wright to Spain to see if Philip III would continue to support English Catholics after Elizabeth's death.
Invasion of England
Thomas Wintour was chosen as the emissary, but the Spanish king, although sympathetic to the plight of Catholics in England, was intent on making peace with James.
1604
Gunpowder Treason Plot
Catesby invited Thomas Wintour to his house in Lambeth, where they discussed Catesbys plan to re-establish Catholicism in England by blowing up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament
Gunpowder Treason Plot
The first meeting between the five conspirators took place on 20 May 1604, probably at the Duck and Drake Inn, just off the Strand, Thomas Wintours usual residence when staying in London. Fawkes became involved with a small group of English Catholics, led by Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate the Protestant King James and replace him with his daughter, third in the line of succession, Princess Elizabeth
Gunpowder Treason Plot
Fawkes, Catesby, Wright & Wintour agree the plot at the Duck & Drake in the Strand
Gunpowder Treason Plot
It was announced on 24 December that the re-opening of Parliament would be delayed, concern over the plague meant that rather than sitting in February, as the plotters had originally planned for, Parliament would not sit again until 3 October 1605
Gunpowder Treason Plot
Begins to recruit other Catholics to his cause, including Thomas Wintour, John Wright, Thomas Percy, and Guy Fawkes
Gunpowder Treason Plot
Catesby invited Thomas Wintour to his house in Lambeth, where they discussed Catesby's plan to re-establish Catholicism in England by blowing up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament.
Gunpowder Treason Plot
Fawkes, Catesby, Wright and Wintour agree the plot at the Duck and Drake in the Strand.
Gunpowder Treason Plot
The plotters take a secret oath at the Duck and Drake inn near the Strand in London, they include Thomas Percy, Robert Catesby and his cousin Thomas Wintour, John Wright and Guy Fawkes.
1605
Gunpowder Treason Plot
The plot was revealed to the authorities in an anonymous letter sent to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle
Gunpowder Treason Plot
By October Catesby had enlisted a total of 12 Catholic men, and the last remaining plot details were now being considered
Gunpowder Treason Plot
The leading conspirators meet & decide to go ahead with the plot
Gunpowder Treason Plot
During a search of the House of Lords at about midnight on 4 November 1605, Fawkes was discovered guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder enough to reduce the House of Lords to rubble and arrested. Most of the conspirators fled from London as they learned of the plots discovery, trying to enlist support along the way
Gunpowder Treason Plot
The lot is betrayed by an anonymous letter to Lord Monteagle. Heads a plot to blow up Parliament against the treatment of the Catholics by James I. 36 barrles of gunpowder are placed under the old House of Lords
Assassination of Robert Catesby
Death of Robert Catesby, shot by a single bullet
Death of Robert Catesby
Death of Robert Catesby, shot by a single bullet
Gunpowder Treason Plot
Death of Robert Catesby, shot by a single bullet. Catesby is killed in a siege within a few days of the failed attempt Gunpowder Plot
Gunpowder Treason 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
Records, sources and methodology
These dates and descriptions come from the historical_events database. Exact duplicate records have been collapsed. Names are grouped by the country, Name 2 and Name 1 fields; records with missing Name 2 cannot be reliably assigned to an individual biography. Check the underlying sources before formal citation.