&quot;The Gunpowder Plot&quot; in England. The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Sir Robert Catesby. Protestant vs Catholic violence. Vintage Woodcut Illustration from: &quot;Book of Martyrs&quot; Tortures carried out in the name of religion.