Seventeenth Century: Guy Fawkes
Who Is Guy Fawkes?
Guy Fawkes was born to an ordinary middle-class family in Stonegate, England on April 13, 1570, but Guy was no ordinary man. On November 5th in the year 1605, Fawkes, along with 12 others, had every intention of blowing up the Palace of Westminster. This plot, given the name the "Gunpowder Plot," failed, because news of the traitorous act preceded the actual bombing. Fawkes and the plot he and his co-conspirators developed, however, still has an impact on England to this day.
| Picture of Fawkes, by permission, from http://www.vision.net.au/~dburbury/plot/profiles/g_fawkes.htm |
What led to the plot?
Although Fawkes was baptized in the parish church of St. Michael-le-Belfry, he converted to Catholicism during his youth. When Elizabeth I came to power in 1558, Catholics were persecuted and driven to practice their faith in secret. Although it was illegal and punishable by death, priests would be smuggled in from the mainland into private rooms used for masses. Slowly, the legislature passed more and more laws charging citizens an enormous amount of money for being absent from the Church of England services. When Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, the Catholics had hope once again. James I, son of Mary Queen of Scots, became King. James I was known for his lenience toward Catholicism, but he was a believer in the divine power of a King, and he only aided in the prosecution of the Catholics.
This angered many people including a man by the name of Robert Catesby. Scorned by the death of his wife and only child and a descendant from a long line of men, whose thoughts were ruled by the sword, Catesby developed the plot against the new king. Fawkes was introduced to him and with the help of eleven other men, and the "Gunpowder Plot" was put into action.
What is the Gunpowder Plot?
Permission to use graphic from http://www.innotts.co.uk/~asperges/fawkes/
In 1604 four men, Robert Catesby, Thomas Winter, John Winter, and John Wright, fed up with the prosecution of Catholics, decided to take it upon themselves to do something about it. One of the ideas they discussed was to completely blow up Parliament and the King, who was to be present at the parliamentary proceedings. After much discussion, the men agreed that the only way to develop a new government was to physically destroy the old one.
Invited into the plot by former classmates, Fawkes's knowledge of mining proved to be most useful. The men, none of whom would be thought of as a hard laborer, with the exception of Fawkes, began digging a tunnel to the Palace of Westminster in December of 1604. By Christmas they had reached the wall outside the Palace. At the rate they were working, and with the wall as thick as it was, there was no way the plotters could reach the position under parliament by their deadline of February seventh. Miraculously, the session of Parliament was postponed until September 29, 1605 and later until the 5th of November.
In March, while the conspirators were finishing the last few weeks of digging, they heard sounds of rolling barrels. It turned out that there was a cellar directly under parliament and one of the plotters, a man named Thomas Percy rented the cellar. The two tons of gunpowder that had been collected for the event was stored there.
Things were rather uneventful as the men waited for the date when they would put all the past few months of labor to use and dispose of the king and parliament. Frequent security checks of the cellar were made. But until October of 1605, everything seemed to be running smoothly. No one is certain, but it is believed that one of the men involved in the plot was a rat. Tresham, the last man to join the plotters is believed to have told Lord Mounteagle of the plot. Mounteagle then passed the information on, and eventually, the news reached King James I.
Fawkes was warned, along with the rest of the men that information had been leaked. They continued, despite the warnings, assuming that the government would work too slowly. Early in the morning on the 5th of November, Fawkes was keeping watch of the gunpowder in the cellar. A search of the Palace as well as of the surrounding buildings had been ordered, and Sir Everard Digby found Fawkes amongst the barrels, coal, and wood. Fawkes was immediately arrested and taken to King James I.
He was caught, matches in hand, yet he would not reveal the names of any co-conspirators. In fact, he kept his name hidden as well, using the alias John Johnson, a servant of Thomas Percy. In his Portrait of Guy Fawkes, Garnett says that only after severe torture by "the rack" (pictured above), did Guy reveal his true identity; he never revealed the others' names. "Yet on that very day the Government had issued a proclamation for the apprehension of Percy, Catesby, Rookwood, Thomas and Robert Winter, Grant and the Wright brothers." In the end, all were captured and tortured. Friar Garnet and Friar Oldcorne were also killed because of their involvement. They knew of the plot, but because of the oath of silence in a confessional, neither could speak of it.
The effects:
The effect of the failed plot on freedom from religious persecution by no means benefited the Catholics. In fact, they suffered even more. Because the founders of the "Gunpowder Plot" were Catholic, even though they were a completely separate group, the blame rested solely on the Catholics' shoulders. Relief, however, was on its way. In December of 1606, only a year after Fawkes and the plot had failed, the first ships from England were sent to North America. The settlers began the construction of Jamestown, a home for those escaping persecution from the Church of England. Finally, in 1828, the Catholic Emancipation Act removed the last of the Catholic oppression.
The motives Fawkes had for working to improve his community showed his alliegance to his community. Although the effects for the advancement of Catholics was not as immediate as Fawkes might have hoped, his name is still known today, and the allegience he held for his community continues to set an example for others. The plot did unite the nation. It had a common bond as never before. For this, as well as to remind possible future traitors of the punishments that lay ahead if and when they are caught, Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated and will continue to be celebrated. On the fifth of November, barrels of gunpowder are set on fire to commemorate the attempt at freedom from oppression for the Catholics and as a threat to those who dream of extreme plots to demolish the government.
 And now you can try your hand at the
"Gunpowder Plot." Be Guy Fawkes! Blow up Congress. Just click on the bomb!  |
Sources
http://www.innotts.co.uk/~asperges/fawkes/
http://www.bcpl.net/~cbladey/guy/html/chrono.html
Garnett, Henry. Portrait of Guy Fawkes. London: Robert Hale Limited, 1962.