Today we are talking about Robert Catesby and his wife Catherine Leigh. So Robert Catesby is famous for having been one of the main planners of the Gunpowder Plot. There was actually a time before he planned to kill the King in Parliament. The loss of his wife, Catherine, may have probably contributed to his downward spiral and it’s one of those “what ifs” of history.
What if Catherine hadn’t died? Would he have become one of the plotters? Would he have been as involved as he was? Would the Gunpowder Plot have even happened without him? So let’s discuss.
In the 16th and early 17th century, of course, England was a nation torn between religious ideologies. Protestantism gained ground and Catholic recusants those who remained loyal to the Pope and to the Catholic Doctrine, faced increasing persecution.
Amidst this tumultuous backdrop, two lives intertwined Robert Catesby, who was a fervent Catholic, and Catherine Leigh, a Protestant from a prestigious lineage, on her mother’s side. She was actually related to Alice Spencer.
So their union bridging opposing faiths, offered a poignant microcosm of the largest religious struggles defining the era. But as we delve into their lives, we can also ask, how did the personal relationships, faith and societal pressures shape the destiny of a man who would come to orchestrate one of England’s most infamous conspiracies?
Robert was born in 1572 from the illustrious Catesby lineage. They were descendants of William Catesby, who was a counselor of Richard III, who met his end at the Battle of Bosworth. This legacy of political involvement was not lost on Robert’s immediate family, who staunchly upheld their Catholic beliefs amidst rising tide of Protestant influence.
His parents in particular bore the brunt of their convictions. They endured imprisonments and even faced trials, notably for harboring the renowned Jesuit Edmund Campion. Robert’s ties to the Catholic cause were further cemented through the Throckmorton relatives who were synonymous with Catholic recency in England.
Their history was riddled with persecution and also plotting against the Queen sometimes. Sir Thomas Throckmorton, the family’s head, grappled with fines and imprisonments due to his faith. And then there was Francis Throckmorton who was executed. He was implicated in one of the plots to free Mary, Queen of Scots.
These formative influences drawn from his family’s staunch commitment to their faith would come to shape Robert Catesby’s perspectives, his actions and ultimately his fate. 1593 was a major turning point for Robert Catesby’s life. Despite the staunch Catholicism entrenched in his lineage, he found himself engaged to Catherine Leigh, a Protestant from the respected Leigh family of Stoneleigh in Warwickshire.
Their union was not merely a testament to the personal affections between the two. It was of course arranged from the perspective of Robert’s family, especially his mother. She would’ve been interested in him being aligned with a more respectable family that didn’t have kind of worries of Catholicism, the potential threats of being a recusant. She might’ve seen that the future was going to be Protestant and it would be good for him to be aligned with the Protestant family.
The Leigh family also had a whole lot of money and the Catesbys were suffering in that respect from having lost so much funds for being Catholic. But also the two really were in love, which is amazing for that time period, for arranged marriages.
So Catherine’s background was emblematic of Protestant England. Her grandfather, Sir Thomas Leigh, had led the procession at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. It was a crucial ceremonial role during a time when Elizabeth sought to firmly establish Protestantism.
Despite such deep-seated religious differences, the bond between Robert and Catherine was palpable. Their union bore two sons, though only Robert, named after his father lived beyond infancy. Catherine’s Protestant status seemingly afforded Robert a degree of relief from the recency laws, which were so rigorous at the time.
His marriage to her offered him a protective camouflage as it were as he didn’t immediately stand out as a Catholic recusant due to his Protestant wife. However, personal and societal tragedies were looming on the horizon in 1598. Only five years after their marriage, Catherine met an untimely death.
I don’t think people know exactly what she died of, at least I can’t find it, but in a historical fiction book that I’ve been reading, they kind of pointed to probably some type of summer illness, summer fever. But I don’t think there’s an exact cause in the records. His second son also died at this time as well.
The ramifications of her passing were profound. Robert and his grief sought solace in his faith embracing Catholicism even more fervently. While the couple had seemingly achieved a delicate balance between their diverging beliefs, Catherine’s death acted as a catalyst, drawing Robert deeper and deeper into the Catholic cause.
It’s tempting to speculate on the trajectory that Robert’s life might have taken had Catherine lived longer. She seemed to serve as a moderating influence on their life at Chastleton, reflecting a semblance of religious harmony.
But in her absence, Robert’s radicalism grew. By 1601, he was entrenched in the Essex Rebellion, which of course the Earl of Essex did. It was a rebellion against Elizabeth I. This period of rebellion also marked a stark contrast to the earlier years of his marriage. The depth of his devotion to Catherine and his profound grief that he experienced with her loss seemed to intensify his commitment to the Catholic cause.
As England’s religious climate grew more volatile, Catesby’s path towards infamy was set, a path from which he would never turn back. Post Catherine’s death, the shadows of Robert Catesby’s radicalism became more profound. The financial repercussions of his involvement in the Essex Rebellion forced him to sell his estate, and he grappled with a world where he felt increasingly marginalized due to his faith.
However, the shifting political sands after Elizabeth’s death in 1603 seemed to offer some hope to the English Catholics. James I’s succession was seen with optimistic eyes. Many believed that he would usher in an era of religious tolerance. He had been raised Protestant and yet his mother was killed. She was a Catholic, so maybe he would have a little bit of tolerance for everybody.
However, this optimism was short-lived. James I’s reign became an antithesis to these hopes, and Catesby felt the pressing weight of disillusionment. This is rooted not only in religious dogma, but also in personal losses too. In a world without Catherine, his zealousness found no counterbalance. His once private faith transformed into a public cause as he embarked on a mission to recruit other like-minded Catholics.
This mission was not solely focused on passive resistance. Of course, it aimed for violent regime change. Names like Thomas Wintour, John Wright, Thomas Percy, and Guy Fawkes started revolving around Robert Catesby. This cohort of plotters envisioned a drastic and dramatic act completely ending the Protestant government by blowing up the King and the House of Lords.
The Gunpowder Plot was not just about the explosion. It was an intricate plan that envisioned a post-England, one where a Catholic monarch would be reinstated. However, internal rifts and ethical dilemmas arose. Friar Henry Garnet, the underground Jesuit superior, appealed for the cancellation of the plot, fearing wide-scale implications, and the backlash that it might provoke.
Yet the plotters moved ahead, undeterred. The meticulous planning behind the Gunpowder Plot, unfortunately for Catesby, and his cohorts, came to an abrupt end. Anonymous warning to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle unearthed the conspiracy. So then of course the plotters fled, Guy Fawkes was captured and tortured. He gave Robert Catesby’s name.
There was a last stand of sorts in Staffordshire. The plotters took the final communion and had their final confession, which of course is a sign that they probably knew they weren’t gonna live for much longer. And of course, they didn’t. Robert Catesby was shot and killed and thus ended the pretty sad life of Robert Catesby.
But the ghost of what might have been of course, lingers heavily around Catesby’s legacy. It’s impossible not to wonder how Catherine’s influence might have swayed Catesby’s decisions, had she been alive. Perhaps her presence could have steered him away from the path of violent rebellion, instead channeling his fervor into more peaceful avenues in a period marked by religious tumult, political machinations, and personal tragedies.
Robert and Catherine Catesby became a poignant reminder of the fine line between love, faith, and extremism. Catherine’s memory, though overshadowed by the grander narratives of plots and betrayals, stands as a testament to the profound impacts that personal relationships can have on historical trajectories. The what-ifs of their tale resonate deeply, echoing the timeless interplay of personal relationships amidst social upheavals.
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop. She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.