Their failed attempt is remembered as Bonfire Night every year – but who was James I? Here is everything we know.
Who was James VI and I?
James was born on June 19 1566 at Edinburgh Castle.
He was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, also known as Lord Darnley.
Both Mary and Darnley were great-grandchildren of Henry VII of England and therefore related to his daughter Queen Elizabeth I.
When did he become king of England?
Elizabeth I was the last of Henry VIII's descendants, and James was seen as her most likely heir.
Elizabeth died in the early hours of 24 March 1603 and James was proclaimed king in London later the same day.
His coronation took place on 25 July, with elaborate allegories provided by dramatic poets such as Thomas Dekker and Ben Jonson.
How many assassination attempts have there been against James VI and I?
The most famous assassination attempt is the Gunpowder Plot which was carried out by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.
The idea was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of England's Parliament on 5 November 1605 an event which would be attended by King James.
Catesby was joined by fellow plotters John Wright, Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy, Guy Fawkes, Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates, Robert Wintour, Christopher Wright, John Grant, Ambrose Rookwood, Sir Everard Digby and Francis Tresham.
Fawkes, who had 10 years of military experience, was put in charge of the explosives.
The plot was discovered when an anonymous letter was sent to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, on 26 October 1605.
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 plot's discovery.
At their trial on 27 January 1606, eight of the survivors, including Fawkes, were convicted and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
However that is not the only plot against King James.
In 1603, Catholic priest William Watson hatched the Bye plot which planned to seize the King at Greenwich.
However this plan was never carried out but led to discovery of the Main plot in July of the same year.
The Main plot was an alleged conspiracy by English courtiers, to remove King James I from the English throne and to replace him with his cousin Arabella (or Arbella) Stuart.
The plot was supposedly led by Henry Brooke, Lord Cobham, and funded by the Spanish government.
How did James VI and I die?
In his later years, when he was in his fifties, King James suffered increasingly from arthritis, gout and kidney stones.
He died at Theobalds House in Cheshunt on March 27 1625 during a violent attack of dysentery and his funeral took place on May 7 of the same year.
James VI and I is buried in Westminster Abbey.
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