Ever Wondered if William Shakespeare Attended Guy Fawkes’ Public Execution?

This article is not an academic piece and is to be enjoyed with an open mind as I explore how two influential people in history could have crossed paths.

William Shakespeare was a renowned English playwriter and poet during his lifetime and his work is even more popular today, for it has been translated and printed into over a hundred languages and performed all around the world for the past four hundred years.

Looking back at prominent historic events, it’s striking to see that Shakespeare was only six years older than Guy Fawkes, who is still a notorious figure in British history due to his attempt to blow up parliament. The impact of what Fawkes and his gang of plotters tried to achieve was so dramatic that the nation still commemorates their failure every year with fireworks.

Knowing that Shakespeare worked closely with the King as a celebrated playwriter for The King’s Men acting company, formally known as Lord Chamberlain's Men during Elizabethan’s reign, and how extraordinary the Gunpowder, treason and Plot of 1605 was, it’s remarkable to think that these two famous figures could have crossed paths or at the very least be aware of each other’s fate.

Could Shakespeare have been one of many that attended Guy Fawkes’ public execution? Is it really that hard to believe?! Here is what my curiosity discovered...

Social conflict, plot and gory end

After decades of intolerance against Catholics under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, English Catholics believed the successor, King James I, would have mercifully relaxed punitive laws against their form of worship due to his late mother’s (Mary Queen of Scots) ties with Catholicism.

However, it quickly became clear that the protestant King had no intention to modify such laws, causing contention between the monarchy and Catholics. So much so, that a band of fervent Catholics, led by Robert Catesby, planned to assassinate King James I and overthrow the English Government to restore the Catholic Monarchy in their endeavours for religious equality within England.

Together, they devised a plan to place barrels of gunpowder in the cellar beneath the Houses of Lords after their plans to tunnel failed. It was the responsibility of Guy Fawkes, due to his military experience in the Eighty-years' war, to ignite the explosives, and subsequently, flee to continental Europe.

Yet, the day before the plot an anonymous letter reached the hands of Lord Monteagle warning him of the coordinated threat and to the need to avoid reopening parliament - which had been closed to minimise the risk of spreading the deadly plague.

Guards subsequently searched the cellar the following evening and found Guy Fawkes with a lantern in one hand and fuses in the other. The devoted Catholic was arrested and taken to the Tower of London where he was eventually tortured with the rack into making a full confession.

On the 31st of January 1606, Fawkes was drawn by horse from the Tower of London to the Old Palace Yard at Westminster. Having witnessed his associates being partially strangled and violently ripped apart, all whilst still conscious, Fawkes jumped from the ladder to break his neck on the noose, sparing himself from the excruciating pain of being torn open and hacked into quarters himself.

Shakespeare was out there - somewhere

Whilst Guy Fawkes was going about his life plotting and waiting patiently for the opening of Parliament, which had been postponed twice due to the outbreak of the plague, William Shakespeare was touring across the country with The King’s Men when lockdown in the city forced The Globe Theatre to close, resulting in him being out of town on the night Fawkes was arrested.

The attempt on King James’ life would have had a lasting effect on Shakespeare due to his business relationship with the King who was the playing company’s patron. Like Queen Elizabeth I before him, he too was a theatre enthusiast. So much so, that it is believed that The King’s Men’s workload had doubled during his succession and between October 1605 and March 1606 they had ten court performances scheduled.

If the King had been assassinated, what would have become of the men that depended on that income? The performing arts had already been impacted drastically by the outbreak of the plague in 1603 which saw all the theatres closed for an extended period. If it were not for the Royal Patron, the acting company would have certainly been in crisis. As anti-Catholicism soared through the city and the playhouse, it’s believed by several scholars that Shakespeare was secretly a Catholic sympathiser. However, it could be a biased opinion.

Yet, the question remains: was Shakespeare secretly conflicted due to the Catholic’s ordeal or was he bitter by the attempt on King James’ life?

William Shakespeare’s personal connection with Catholics

To say that Shakespeare only knew of the plotters since Guy Fawkes’ arrest is an understatement. Shakespeare may have even heard plans relating to the plot before it even happened…

For, Shakespeare’s closest friend owned a tavern in Cheapside, located east of St. Paul's Cathedral. It was called the Mermaid and sadly burnt down in 1666 during The Great Fire of London. However, back when Shakespeare was working at The Globe Theatre, opposite St Paul's Cathedral, the tavern was frequented by writers and performers. Back in 1603, a literary group was formed there called the Friday Street Club. Several of society’s best writers were part of the literary club and would engage in vigorous debates whilst drinking at the Mermaid.

Due to its location, the tavern was also a popular spot for turncoats, traitors to the crown. And it just so happened to be the place Robert Catesby and his band of conspirators met often to plan their assassination against the King.

It turns out, Robert Catesby’s father, William Catesby was friends with none other than Shakespeare’s father. William Catesby was notorious for being imprisoned for years due to his involvement in hiding a Catholic priest and for his illegal faith. Yet, this did not hinder their friendship, for John Shakespeare was a secretly converted Catholic. This became known after their shared illegal Catholic writings were found in John Shakespeare’s attic in Stratford some years later.

What are the odds that William Shakespeare had been acquainted with Robert Catesby through his father before he died in 1601 or vice versa?

If they had known each other through their respective father’s relationship, could they have rubbed shoulders with each other in the Mermaid? If so, did Robert Catesby introduce his mysterious friend, John Johnson to William Shakespeare, who was in fact the notorious Guy Fawkes?

Regardless of what would have happened to him and the King’s Men if Fawkes did succeed in blowing up Parliament; is there a part of Shakespeare that sympathised with those that practiced Catholicism?

Not only was his father a secret converter, but his mother was born into a Catholic family. In comparison to Guy Fawkes, her second cousin, Edward Arden, was sentenced and executed for his attempt on Queen Elizabeth’s I life in 1583. After being hung, drawn, and quartered, his head was spiked on London Bridge beside his accomplice/father-in-law.

Could Shakespeare’s fame and close ties with Catholics link him to the conspiracy? Even though he was better off financially with King James I alive, would his ties to treason be enough to raise suspicion among the fickle people of the court and country? Perhaps…

But if there is one thing William Shakespeare could do to remove all growing suspicion, that is to write - and that is exactly what he did.

To mitigate any thoughts that he may have had prior knowledge of the Gunpowder Plot, he wrote the Scottish play, Macbeth, a brilliant - beyond brilliant - play full of direct references to King James I and the conspirators. Though, according to Professor Peter Thomson: ‘Only a foolish theatre company would have neglected the opportunity for public celebration of the King’s great escape’.

So, what do you think? Did Shakespeare attend Guy Fawkes’ public execution, or did he not have the stomach to witness a man-of-faith’s brutal end?