Gunpowder Plot under King James had faded, leaving many English Catholics disappointed. His fellow plotters were John and Christopher Wright, Robert and Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy, Guy Fawkes, Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates, John Grant, Ambrose Rookwood, Sir Everard Digby and Francis Tresham. Fawkes, who had 10 years of military experience fighting in the Spanish Netherlands in the failed suppression of the Dutch Revolt, was given charge of the explosives. The plot was revealed to the authorities in an anonymous letter sent to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, on 26 October 1605. During a search of the House of Lords at about midnight
Robert and Thomas Wintour negotiate an Anglo-Spanish treaty. Tassis quickly realised that any chance of a successful Catholic rebellion was unlikely, and discounted Thomas's claim that, with funding, "3,000 Catholics" would be available for the cause. After meeting with King James he wrote to Spain emphasising the need to prioritise peace with England over the freedom of her Catholics. According to contemporary accounts late in February 1604 Thomas's cousin, Robert Catesby, invited him to his house in Lambeth, but Thomas was indisposed and could not attend. Catesby sent a second letter that Thomas did respond to, and when he arrived he found his cousin