Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot
The English Celebrate the Plot to Blow Up Parliament with Fireworks
During the 1500s, Roman Catholics had been persecuted under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I; when the queen died in 1603, Catholics hoped that her successor, King James I, would be more tolerant. They hoped in vain, and soon small groups of anarchists began to form.
One band of thirteen men, led by Robert Catesby, decided on violence as the only answer to the monarchy’s treatment of Catholics. They felt they had no recourse but to destroy the country’s democratic center—Parliament, and hopefully eliminate King James I in the process.
The Gunpowder Plot
The band of men filled a cellar beneath the House of Lords with 1800 pounds of gunpowder. The group decided on November 5th for their explosion day, but several got cold feet as the day approached. They realized that innocent people would probably be hurt in the explosion, including Members of Parliament who had supported Catholics. One man felt so strongly that he wrote a letter to warn a friend, thus revealing the plan.
On the night of November 5th, a search party found Guy Fawkes guarding the gunpowder. The primary source for the details of the plot is the King's Book or James I The Kings Book - A True and Perfect Relation of the Whole Proceedings Against the Late Most Barbarous Traitors. This government account states that a man named Peter Haywood snatched the torch from Guy Fawkes just as the traitor tried to light the gunpowder.
Guy Fawkes was arrested immediately and convicted of treason. His conspirators fled London and hid in a country estate in the English Midlands where they were later found and “gunned down.” Fawkes was imprisoned and tortured, but only revealed the names of co-conspirators when he knew that they were already captured or dead.
On January 31st, 1606 Fawkes even resisted the hangman by jumping off the scaffold and breaking his own neck before he was then drawn and quartered; some say his head was speared on London Bridge to teach a lesson to all who dared challenge authority. When Fawkes was arrested, his captors asked him whey he would attempt such a foolish plot, and he answered, “A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy.”
What Guy Fawkes Means to the 21st Century
In the 18th century, the tradition began for children to build and effigy of Fawkes and use the phrase, “Penny for the guy?”, to ask passers by to donate so the children could buy a few fireworks. That evening the children and their families would burn their ‘guy’ on a large bonfire.
Today his reputation as a traitor and terrorist has improved; a phrase first used in the 19th century praises Fawkes for being the “last man to enter Parliament with honorable intentions." However, this verse, written at the time of Fawkes’ death, is still taught to British children:
Remember, remember the fifth of November/The gunpowder, treason and plot/I know of no reason/Why that gunpowder treason/Should ever be forgot
Guy Fawkes Night celebrates the downfall of a traitor—fireworks to celebrate an explosion that never happened.
Bon Fire with Burning Effigy
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Guy Fawkes with Houses of Parliament
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