Editing Gunpowder Plot (section)

===Interrogations===
[[File:Guy Fawkes confession.png|left|thumb|alt=A small irregular section of parchment upon which several lines of handwritten text are visible. Several elaborate signatures bookend the text, at the bottom.|Part of a confession by Guy Fawkes. His weak signature, made soon after his torture, is faintly visible under the word "good" (lower right).]]
Sir [[Edward Coke]] was in charge of the interrogations. Over a period of about ten weeks, in the Lieutenant's Lodgings at the Tower of London (now known as the Queen's House) he questioned those who had been implicated in the plot. For the first round of interrogations, no real proof exists that these people were tortured, although on several occasions Salisbury certainly suggested that they should be. Coke later revealed that the threat of torture was in most cases enough to elicit a confession from those caught up in the aftermath of the plot.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|pp=241–244}}</ref>

Only two confessions were printed in full: Fawkes's confession of 8 November, and Wintour's of 23 November. Having been involved in the conspiracy from the start (unlike Fawkes), Wintour was able to give extremely valuable information to the Privy Council. The handwriting on his testimony is almost certainly that of the man himself, but his signature was markedly different. Wintour had previously only ever signed his name as such, but his confession is signed "Winter", and since he had been shot in the shoulder, the steady hand used to write the signature may indicate some measure of government interference—or it may indicate that writing a shorter version of his name was less painful.<ref>{{Harvnb|Haynes|2005|p=106}}</ref> Wintour's testimony makes no mention of his brother, Robert. Both were published in the so-called ''King's Book'', a hastily written official account of the conspiracy published in late November 1605.<ref name="ODNB Thomas Wintour">{{Citation |last=Nicholls |first=Mark | chapter = Winter, Thomas (c.&nbsp;1571–1606) | title = Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = 2004 | url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29767 |format=subscription required | accessdate = 16 November 2009 | doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/29767}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|pp=242–245}}</ref>

Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was in a difficult position. His midday dinner with Thomas Percy on 4 November was damning evidence against him,<ref>{{Harvnb|Haynes|2005|p=93}}</ref> and after Thomas Percy's death there was nobody who could either implicate him or clear him. The Privy Council suspected that Northumberland would have been Princess Elizabeth's protector had the plot succeeded, but there was insufficient evidence to convict him. Northumberland remained in the Tower and on 27 June 1606 was finally charged with contempt. He was stripped of all public offices, fined £30,000 (about £{{formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|30000|1606|r=-5}}|0}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}), and kept in the Tower until June 1621.<ref>{{Citation |last=Nicholls |first=Mark |chapter=Percy, Henry, ninth earl of Northumberland (1564–1632) |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21939 |format=subscription required |accessdate=16 November 2009 | doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/21939}}</ref> The Lords Mordaunt and Stourton were tried in the [[Star Chamber]]. They were condemned to imprisonment in the Tower, where they remained until 1608, when they were transferred to the [[Fleet Prison]]. Both were also given significant fines.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|p=333}}</ref>

Several other people not involved in the conspiracy, but known or related to the conspirators, were also questioned. Northumberland's brothers, Sir Allen and Sir Josceline Percy, were arrested. Lord Montagu had employed Fawkes at an early age, and had also met Catesby on 29 October, and was therefore of interest; he was released several months later.<ref>{{Harvnb|Haynes|2005|pp=125–126}}</ref> [[Agnes Wenman]] was from a Catholic family, and related to Elizabeth Vaux.{{efn|Vaux had written a letter to Wenman regarding the marriage of her son Edward Vaux. The letter contained certain phrases which were open to interpretation, and was intercepted by Richard Wenman, who thought it suspicious.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fraser|2005|pp=151–152}}</ref>}} She was examined twice but the charges against her were eventually dropped.<ref>{{Citation |last=Griffiths |first=Jane |chapter=Wenman , Agnes, Lady Wenman (d. 1617) |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29044 |format=subscription required |accessdate=16 November 2009 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/29044}}</ref> Percy's secretary and later the controller of Northumberland's household, [[Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester|Dudley Carleton]], had leased the vault where the gunpowder was stored, and consequently he was imprisoned in the Tower. Salisbury believed his story, and authorised his release.<ref>{{Citation |last=Reeve |first=L. J. |chapter=Carleton, Dudley, Viscount Dorchester (1574–1632) |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4670 |format=subscription required |accessdate=16 November 2009 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/4670}}</ref>