The Bye Plot of 1603 was a conspiracy, by Roman Catholic priests and Puritans aiming at tolerance for their respective denominations, to kidnap the new English king, James I of England.
Elizabeth I of England died at the end of March 1603, and James VI of Scotland claimed the English throne, without overt opposition.
The resulting alignment of Catholic priests had a great deal to do with making the plots of 1603 impractical, and also made one side of the argument receptive to the idea of informing the London government.
[2] The plot was initially exposed by the archpriest Blackwell and two Jesuits, John Gerard and Henry Garnet, who were on the other side of the dispute.
They had other reasons besides the ongoing controversy: they feared retribution against Catholics if the plan failed; and entertained suspicions regarding the political motivations of the secular priests.
To the extent that these matters can be clarified, the Main Plot that had been laid in parallel wished also for regime change, with James replaced on the throne by Arbella Stuart.
Gerard's reaction was negative, and he wrote to Henry Garnet and George Blackwell asking them to put a spoke in the wheels of the plot.
[10] As the date and midsummer approached, Gerard had contacted a Scottish courtier asking that he make the king aware, while also Blackwell, the official head of the English Catholic secular clergy operating from hiding, took roundabout steps.
[8] Blackwell revealed something of the plot to the government through an intermediary, the recusant John Gage, who had married Margaret, the daughter of Sir Thomas Copley.
Sir George was arraigned on 15 July, and in his eagerness to clear himself, made confessions that clarified to the investigators that two separate groups of plotters had been active.
John Lingard in his History of England attributed the delay to the continued presence in the country of Charles de Ligne, 2nd Prince of Arenberg; Arenburg was there to represent the Spanish Netherlands at James's coronation, and the alleged contacts of the Main Plot with him were potentially embarrassing.
[9][18] Guilty verdicts on the conspirators were reached;[19] the only acquittal on a high treason charge among the Bye Plot defendants was Sir Edward Parham.
[23] By an edict of 22 February 1604, King James ordered all Roman Catholic clergy ("Jesuits, Seminaries and other Priests") to leave his kingdom by 19 March.