AN EXPLOSIVE document is on display at Shakespeare’s Birthplace.
The 413-year-old Royal Proclamation that named the chief conspirators of the failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament, King James I and the Prince of Wales can be seen at the bard’s Henley Street home until Sunday (November 4) ahead of this year’s bonfire night celebrations.
The two-page document is among a million museum, library and archive items held in the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s collection.
The proclamation – issued on November 7, 1605, two days after Guy Fawkes was arrested underneath the Palace of Westminster – names Thomas Percy, Robert Catesby, Ambrose Rookwood, Thomas Winter, Edward Grant, John Wright, Christopher Wright, and Robert Ashfield, describing the wanted men as “utterly corrupted” and “detestable traitors”, and their actions as “devilish” and the “most horrible treason”.
Paul Edmondson, head of research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said: “It’s a fascinating document that would have been read out in market places up and down the land, and makes it clear that to withhold information as to the whereabouts of these men would be considered treason itself.
“The magnitude of what these plotters did not achieve cast a very long shadow and the civil rights of Roman Catholics were severely restricted until the middle of the 19th century. This proclamation is a reminder of a failed act of terrorism, as well as state-inflicted social injustice.”
A BBC Radio 3 documentary will be broadcast at 6.45pm on Sunday, in which Paul Edmondson will discuss the Royal Proclamation, how 14 of the 19 men who died as a result of their involvement in the failed plot had links to Stratford and Warwickshire, and Shakespeare’s references to the plot in his plays.
On Saturday, at Shakespeare’s New Place, historical interpretations company Live’n History will deliver two, 30 minute costumed presentations on the story of The Gunpowder Plot and its failure, and how the plotters escaped into Warwickshire. Performances are at noon and 1pm.
A Bonfire Night with a Tudor Twist takes place at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, also on Saturday, from 5.30pm to 8pm, when the Yarnsmith of Norwich will tell Tudor tales. There will also be a fire-breathing show. Tickets are £8 (£6 children). Booking is required Visit www.shakespeare.org.uk or call 01789 204016.
Normal admission fees to Shakespeare’s Birthplace and Shakespeare’s New Place apply.
