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 …showed first 75 words of 2286 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2286 total…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.