Why did Guy Fawkes and his companions undertake this act of state terrorism? What did they hope to accomplish by it?

On November 5 1605, a cellar located under the House of Lords filled with dozens of barrels of gunpowder was primed to explode with the hope of restoring a Catholic Government to England. This treasonous plot was however discovered only days before Parliament were set to resume and as a result the plot remained just that. It would be remembered by Catholics and Protestants alike in infamy and joy respectively and damaged Catholicism in England almost to …

…of England 1603-1642. New York: Longman, 1989. Parkinson, C. Northcote. Gunpowder, Treason and Plot. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1976. Ross Williamson, Hugh. The Gunpowder Plot. London: Faber, 1951. Stephen, Leslie (eds). Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1889. Robertson, Diana. "Bishop Lancelot Andrewes and his Gunpowder Treason sermons, 1606-1618." In Grounds of Controversy. Three studies in late 16th and early century English polemics, edited by Donald Edward Kennedy, 49-96. Melbourne: The University of Melbourne, 1989.