The Monteagle Letter
A Jacobean test of Loyalty ?
Sir William Parker (1578-1622),13th Baron Morley, inherited the title the 4th Lord Monteagle: For the purposes of this post, the modern spelling of the title Lord Monteagle will be used..Other variants included Lord 'Mounteagle' or 'Mownteagle'.
The Monteagle Letter, is the most famous anonymous communication in British History. And perhaps the first British bomb scare. A deadly warning to Lord Monteagle -a Roman Catholic- who was due to take his seat in the House of Lords at the state opening of Parliament- on 5th November 1605. Who wrote or perhaps dictated, and delivered the letter, is still disputed today. In any event, an unknown messenger handed the letter to Monteagle's footman , on 26th October 1605. His lordship was dining at his house in Hoxton at a residence he rarely used, already having a house at The Strand. Monteagle asked his servant to read out what had been written:
" My Lord, Out of Love I bear to some of your friends, I have a care of your preservation. Therefore, I would advise you as you tender your life to devise some excuse to shift off your attendance at this parliament. For God and man have concurred to punish the wickedness of this time. And think not slightly of this advertisment, but retire yourself into your country where you may expect the event in safety. for though there be tho(sic) appearance of any stir, yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow this parliament. And they shall not see who hurts them. This counsel is not to be condemned because it may do you good, and can do you no harm : for the danger is past as soon as you have burnt the letter. ......"
The above text is the Hugh Ross Williams 1951 modern English transcription with added punctuation . There is also a National Archives transcription available.
What adds to the dramatic affect is that the text appears to be deliberately cryptic. If a wellwisher wanted to warn someone that their life was in danger, it would make far more sense to be as obvious as possible. One would imagine that the state opening of Parliament would be the least likely time a rebellion would strike, with so many armed guards being present, so what terrible blow could be likely? Especially related to the mysterious line And they shall not see who hurts them being so added. On the other hand very educated and/or aristocratic individuals were more accustomed to writing to each other in what we would now consider to be quite obtuse language, Perhaps the author of the letter was showing that they were somehow being authentic and articulate,part of the same social status.
Lord Monteagle was sufficiently worried to take the letter to Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury and Secretary of State, who was dining that night with four privy councillors.It was agreed to show the letter to King James who was away hunting, upon his return around the 31st October 1605.After some pontificating, searches were ordered of the undercroft beneath the House of Lords. Lord Monteagle took part in the first of them on the night of 4th November 1605. And Guy Fawkes, masquerading as humble servant John Johnson was caught with 36 barrels of gunpowder.
There are many other suspects concerning the author of the Monteagle Letter . One possibility is that Lord Monteagle himself was being tested, most likely by those in authority, perhaps by Robert Cecil himself. The Gunpowder conspiracy already being infiltrated. And Robert Cecil needed to know how loyal Lord Monteagle really was.
What is interesting is that Lord Monteagle was not adverse to rebellion and conspiracy . In fact one of the most overlooked aspects of the whole Gunpowder Treason is that several key figures were already known to the authorities. In 1601, the doomed rebellion launched by the Earl of Essex to dislodge the Cecil faction at Court and to reinstate him to Queen Elizabeth's favour, included Gunpowder plotters Robert Catesby, Francis Tresham. Christopher (Kit) Wright and his brother John (Jack) Wright, Thomas Percy, John Grant. Monteagle also joined the rebels and was fined for £8,000, placed under house arrest and had his Essex estates confiscated.DURST Robert Catesby and Francis Tresham were also heavily fined. Though Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, was a figurehead to younger Catholic gentlemen disillusioned with Elizabeth's rule, he did not share their faith. Lord Monteagle had fought alongside the Earl of Essex during the campaign in Ireland in 1598,
By early 1605 Monteagle seemed to have made his peace with Robert Cecil though they were on opposing sides at the time of the Essex Rebellion . Cecil was assisting him in a law suit against Lord Hereford, His estates were restored and and he was able to prepare to take his seat in the House of Lords. Monteagle was also on very familiar terms with King James, addressing his sovereign;
Moreover, it appears that Monteagle had agreed to take the Oath of Supremacy accepting James as head of the Anglican Church. This might be due to a genuine conversion to Protestantism or simply out of expediency. Perhaps Monteagle simply gave up fighting the system, or decided that it was in his best interests to cease to rebel and to accept the new Sovereign.
A great deal has been made of the fact that Lord Monteagle's sister Anne was married to Francis Tresham, though Tresham had only joined the Gunpowder Plot conspiracy on 14th October 1605. It is possible that Tresham sent or dictated the Monteagle Letter to be delivered out of genuine concern for his wife's brother.
However any such speculation has to factor in a strange meeting that occurred towards the end of June 1605. Lord Monteagle stayed at Sir John Tyrrel' s home Fremlands, a well known Catholic country house. Also present were Francis Tresham, and Robert Catesby. And Father Henry Garnett ,the head of the Jesuit Order in England. DURST & CARRADAN Why Monteagle should be at such a gathering is puzzling. Was he either a Catholic returning to his faith,only pretending to be an Anglican for 'official' purposes? A spy for the authorities?
What is highly significant is that the authorities rewarded Monteagle well for the part he played in the suppression of the Gunpowder Treason, receiving a pension of £500 for life. However his estate complained after his death in 1622 that the pension was nearly £2000 in arrears. FRASER
Postscript
In 1602 Thomas Wintour took part in a mission to the Spanish Court : The intention was to try to persuade Phillip III that a rebellion of English Catholics could be launched to coincide with a Spanish invasion. Contact was made with the English Jesuit mission based in Spain as well as the Spanish Court. Thomas Wintour had fought against Spain, then transferred his allegiance to the Spanish following adopting or re-discovering his Catholic faith around 1600, and also spoke several languages. Lord Monteagle was party to this conspiracy, possibly with financial backing and/or employing Thomas Wintour. It is most likely that the authorities were unaware of such a visit to the Spanish court until Francis Tresham and Thomas Wintour were interrogated in the Tower after being arrested in November 1605. NICHOLLS By 1605 the Treaty of London between England and Spain was in place, and the two lands were at peace.
Note
* Durst, (below -citing British Museum manuscript Add.MSS,19402,f146 , presumably now located in the British Library.
Picture Credit
'William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, and 11th Baron Morley', (1615) John de Criz . In the Public Domain, via Wikipedia .
Sources
Books
Henry Garnet 1555-1606 and the Gunpowder Plot, Philip CARAMAN, Longmans, 1964
'Intended Treason-What really happened in the Gunpowder Plot', Paul DURST, W.H. Allen, 1970
'The Gunpowder Plot-Terror and Faith in 1605' , Antonia FRASER, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1996
'Investigating Gunpowder Plot', Mark NICHOLLS, Manchester University Press, 1991
'The Gunpowder Plot and Lord Mounteagle's Letter' . H.P. SPINK
'The Gunpowder Plot -The Narrative of Oswald Tesimond alias Greenway' Translated by Francis EDWARDS, The Folio Society, 1973
On line
Lord Monteagle -Britannia entry
Some previous posts about the Gunpowder Treason from this blog
Gunpowder Plot scepticism What was the real Conspiracy?
The Third Wintour Brother part one Researching the life and execution of John Wintour ,younger half brother of Gunpowder Plotters Thomas and Robert Wintour.
The Third Wintour Brother part two More of the above
In Quintum Novembris In search of poetry related to the Gunpowder Plot
Other blogs from Michael Bully
World War 2 Poetry As stated. Try to update every month
Bleak Chesney Wold 'Dark' 19th century history. Not updated for a while .
Greetings to all visitors to this blog.
Appreciate you being here. Especially as there has been nothing new for a while. Reviving this blog, but will make it largely about the Gunpowder Treason and other Jacobean themes for the future.
As usual, any mistakes or schoolboy howlers that appear in the above post are mine to own, and not to be attributed to any of the sources that I have cited.
Best regards
Michael Bully
Worthing, West Sussex
11th October 2025.
Social Media : New account at Bluesky : Michael_Bully@treason61.bsky.social
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