The Gunpowder Plot
Guy Fawkes
-- The best
part about early November in Britain is the fact that no sooner have we finished trick or
treating, we have to start preparing for Bonfire Night. Countless numbers of people are
already scouring their neighborhoods for wood to build bonfires. Others are out
buying increasingly spectacular fireworks. Some stay at home making toffee and
parkin, while others concentrate on the most important part: building the guy out of old
clothes stuffed with newspapers, ready to burn on top of the bonfire. It really is a
glorious team effort and the perfect family occasion.
Some of you will know all about Bonfire Night and
its history. Others might celebrate it but not have much idea about its
significance. So, we will look at how Bonfire Night came about, its history, and how
we end up burning some poor fellow called Guy Fawkes in effigy every year.
Bonfire Night can be traced directly to events that
occurred around the beginning of November in 1605. It was on the 5th November 1605
that our (anti-) hero Guy Fawkes was caught red-handed in the cellars of the Houses of
Parliament with several barrels of gunpowder (according to sources, the actual number
varies between 20 and 36, suffice to say, it was enough!). Mr. Fawkes was tried
along with his fellow conspirators as traitors and executed. They were hung, drawn,
and quartered, a particularly gruesome end that was the customary way to go for all
traitors.
Guy Fawkes is a much celebrated character and
probably one of the most famous characters in all of British history. Some have
called him the leader of this plot, but that is not true; he was a soldier - in fact, a
mercenary - whose job it was to place the gunpowder. In all likelihood, he was the
'patsy,' set up as the fall guy in case things went wrong. (He certainly did not act
alone, but if asked today, few people could remember the name of his fellow conspirators.)
However, it did not work, all the conspirators were tracked down, and none lived to
tell about it.
That's not the whole story, though. What was it that
drove these men to act in such away? The answer to that question is in many ways
more interesting than the event itself.
Religion and faith is important in many peoples'
lives, and it always has been. Yet, religion has been the cause of more disputes,
wars, and conflicts throughout history than anything else. The Gunpowder Plot can also be
traced back to religion for its roots.
Under Henry VIII, England joined the reformation and
split from the Catholic Church to form the Church of England, following the Pope's refusal
to let Henry divorce Catherine of Aragon in 1529. The English were expected to swear
allegiance to Henry and accept him as the head of the English Church. Understandably, the
Catholic population of England was not happy. It is now that we get the infamous
dissolution of the monasteries and the confiscation of much Catholic Church property.
The Catholics took quite a pasting in the ensuing years, so they must have been
quite happy when the Catholic Mary I ascended to the throne in 1553.
However, the Restoration was short lived and Mary
died in 1558, and succeeded by Elizabeth I who hit the Catholics even harder than they had
been hit before. Catholicism was banned, so the Catholics met in secret. Many
Catholic priests who were caught were killed, and today you can still see 'priest holes'
in many stately homes where Catholic priests could hide.
In 1603, James I succeeded Elizabeth, and introduced
a policy that some have called "relaxed persecution", although I don't think the
Catholics were in a position to relax much! It did not take James long to start
persecuting the Catholics harder than ever. Many Catholics felt that his actions
were even more treacherous than those of his predecessors. After all, he was the son
of a Catholic - his mother was Mary, Queen of Scots - and he had even promised to tolerate
Catholics if he ever became King. Like monarchs are prone to do when they take
power, James forgot the promises he made. Some of the Catholics who were most upset
would be those who went on to form the Gunpowder Plot.
The leader of the plot was most likely Robert
Catesby, a Catholic who had taken part in the Essex Rebellion of 1601. David Nash
Ford believes that it was Catesby, along with his cousin, Thomas Wintour and a friend John
Wright who began to hatch the treacherous plot. Their hope was to blow up the houses
of Parliament at the start of the new session when the King and most of the leading nobles
and ministers would be present. With them dead and the country in chaos, they could
start a widespread revolt and bring Catholicism gloriously back to England. It
didn't take much to persuade other disillusioned Catholics to join the plot. According to
Ford, there were 13 conspirators in all (unlucky?). Guy Fawkes, Christopher Wright,
Robert Wintour, Thomas Percy, John Grant, Ambrose Rokewood, Robert Keyes, Sir Everard
Digby, Francis Tresham, and Thomas Bates formed the other members of this villainous band.
It was Guy Fawkes who was given the task of handling the gunpowder. As an old
soldier, the others probably believed he was used to such things. Yet, Ford says
that it was Thomas Percy who was able to rent the cellar right beneath the House of Lords
and Fawkes, acting as Percy's servant and using the pseudonym John Johnson who managed to
sneak the gunpowder into the cellar.
It was now that things began to go decidedly
"pear shaped," as is prone to happen in these sorts of situations when one or
two of the conspirators began to get cold feet. Some were worried about Catholics,
friends, and relatives who would be present at Parliament, unaware of this impending day
of judgment. Lord Monteagle was warned to stay away from Parliament on this day.
Ford believes it was Francis Tresham, a conspirator and Monteagle's brother-in-law
who gave the warning. Monteagle immediately took the information to the authorities,
in this case, Lord Salisbury, the Secretary of State, who subsequently ordered the cellars
beneath the houses of Parliament searched. Here, Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder were
discovered. The rest as they say is history. As for the rest of the
conspirators, they fled, only to be hunted down after Fawkes confessed. Catesby and
Winter tried to gather support, but failed and ended up with some of their fellow
conspirators holed up at Holbeche House in Staffordshire. The Sheriff of Worcester
arrived to arrest them and a fight broke out. Catesby, the two Wrights, and Thomas
Percy were killed and the rest were captured, except Thomas Winter who escaped, but was
eventually caught. Only Francis Tresham was not executed and was instead imprisoned
in the Tower of London. Was he let off as reward for giving the warning, or was he
the "inside man" as some have surmised. Either way, he died of a urinary
tract infection in December of 1605, some say suspiciously, perhaps killed to cover up his
role. Was he a double agent or just worried about his brother-in-law? Such
events always bring out the conspiracy theorists; the truth is we will never know.
Today we remember that fateful night of the 5th
November 1605 by lighting bonfires, burning effigies of Guy Fawkes, setting off fireworks,
eating, drinking, and generally being merry. The 5th November was made into "a
day of public thanksgiving." Whether this was to offer thanks that the plot was
uncovered in time or honor the "revolutionaries" who made the attempt, I leave
for you to decide.
The tradition of lighting bonfires is said to date
back to 1605 when bonfires were lit all over London to celebrate the discovery of the
plot. The addition of 'Guys' did not come until the 18th century.
Building Guys from old clothes stuffed with old newspaper and topped off with hideous
looking face masks is still very popular among children. The children will then parade the
guy around the local neighborhood asking "A penny for the guy,"
hoping to get a few pence in appreciation for their artistic efforts. Fireworks
became part of the celebration from around 1677, and they have grown more and more popular
ever since.
