Due to the persecutions the Church suffered from the English government in the early 17th century, Robert Catesby, Thomas Percy, Thomas Winter, and Lord Monteagle plotted to blow up the Whigs in the House of Commons and kill King James I. The William Cecil's, Robert, the Earl of Salisbury, knew of the plot and allowed it to continue until the last possible moment in the hopes of incriminating the Church. The plot has been used as a weapon against the Church ever since. When the explosives were found, the conspirators fled to their rendezvous, and thus betrayed themselves. Guy Fawkes, who was on watch, was captured and burned at the stake the next day, 5 November. On 8 November Catesby, Percy, and the two Wright brothers were killed. The other nine conspirators were wounded and captured. The Jesuit priests who heard the confessions of the conspirators were also put on trial, primarily for being priests. This incident is still used as a weapon amongst anti-Catholics today. On the anniversary, 5 November, the English hold an annual festival and burn Guy Fawkes in effigy. He was from the Spanish Netherlands, (Belgium), and brought to England with co-conspirator Thomas Winter.