The Gunpowder Plot
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ’twas his intent
To blow up the King and the Parliament
Three score barrels of powder below
Poor old England to overthrow
By God’s providence he was catch’d
With a dark lantern and burning match
Holler boys, holler boys, let the bells ring
Holler boys, holler boys, God save the King!
The gunpowder plot rhyme
How I Learned About the Gunpowder Plot
Well, my first introduction to the gunpowder plot was when I was a young lad, growing up on a council estate in Southeast England. We would all congregate around a huge bonfire, putting jacket potatoes in the fire, waiting for them to be cooked, and enjoy the fantastic firework displays on the estate.
By the time I was around nine years old, I embraced another tradition: creating my own effigy of Guy Fawkes, normally made out of old newspapers, stuffed into a pair of my mum’s old tights, dressed in secondhand clothes, then a Fawkesian mask placed over where the face should be.
And there I would be standing outside Woolworths on Orpington High Street with my Guy chanting: ‘Penny for the Guy!’ Of course, all the money that was raised went to pay for fireworks for the 5th of November.
So what was the gunpowder plot? Who was Guy Fawkes? And why do we celebrate November 5th?
Well, the history of the gunpowder plot goes back to the early 17th century and revolves around the first of the Stuart kings, James I.
The Plot Thickens: How It All Began – James I
Elizabeth I died in 1603, leaving no son or daughter to pass the crown onto, and when a successor was sought for, it appeared the next in line was James VI, King of Scotland.
He was crowned James I of England on the 25th July 1603 at Westminster Abbey.
His reign did not get off to a good start, though. It is said that 857 people died of plague during the week of his coronation, which was looked on as a divine punishment for having accepted a Scottish king.
Having already been king of Scotland for 34 years (he had been crowned at the very young age of one year old!), he had plenty of experience.
However, James I was often referred to as ‘the wisest fool in Christendom’. Wise, because he was in many ways a clever, learned man, but he was also judged foolish because he did many unpopular (and often regarded as stupid) things.
James believed in the divine right of kings; that is, he was convinced that he had been placed here by God, and therefore that his authority was absolute!
He did not respect or consult with Parliament, which was the representative body of the people, making laws and taxes.
Whereas rulers before him, such as Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, had been clever enough to rule in accordance with parliament, James insisted that the members of Parliament were there simply to do as he told them.
This would eventually lead to the demise and execution of his son Charles I. But more of that in a later blog.
He also argued with religious groups who wanted more reforms or more freedom in their beliefs.
One of these groups was the Roman Catholics, who were still a large minority in England. They had suffered a lot under Elizabeth I’s reign, as they were fined, imprisoned, or executed for practicing their faith or refusing to attend Church of England services.
They had hoped that James I would be more tolerant and lenient towards them, as he had promised before he became king. However, once he was on the throne, he broke his promise and continued to persecute them harshly. Priests would be imprisoned or put to death wherever they were found; and this led to the building of secret hiding places known as priest holes. Many can still be found today in manor houses in the countryside.
Another group was the Puritans, radical Protestants who wanted to purify the Church of England from any traces of Catholicism or corruption.
They disagreed with many aspects of James I’s religious policies, such as his support for bishops, ceremonies, rituals, and translations of the Bible. They wanted more simplicity and democracy in their church and their government.
Both Catholics and Puritans were unhappy with James I, who was rapidly becoming very unpopular.
Many plots were hatched against him, but the most famous was the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, which involved a group of Catholic conspirators who planned to blow up Parliament with barrels of gunpowder while James I was opening a new session there on November 5th.
They hoped that killing James I and many other leaders would spark a rebellion among the Catholics who would then take over and establish a new regime.
The Best Laid Plans: How It All Went Wrong
The leader of the plot was Robert Catesby, a wealthy gentleman who had suffered because of his religion, and was determined to rid the country of this despised monarch.
He recruited several other men who shared his cause, such as his cousins Thomas and Robert Winter, his friends Christopher and John Wright, Thomas Bates annd Thomas Percy, and the famous Guido or Guy Fawkes.
Guy Fawkes, once a mercenary soldier, had fought in the Netherlands and Spain, and he was an expert in explosives and warfare.
The plan was simple: they would rent a cellar under the House of Lords, where the king would open the new session of Parliament on November 5th. They would fill the cellar with barrels of gunpowder, enough to blow up the whole building and kill everyone inside. Then they would light a fuse and escape before the explosion.
The cellar was let to them under the name of Percy. Guy Fawkes was installed as a servant under the pseudonym of Johnson.
Eventually, about two tons of gunpowder would find their way to the cellar.
The Aftermath: How It All Ended
A man named Francis Tresham, who was related to Catesby, was later admitted into the plot. He had pledged over £2000 to the cause, which would be about half a million pounds in today’s money.
But there were signs of disunity within the conspirators. Some of them began to have serious doubts about what they were doing; several of them had friends or relations who would be in the Houses of Parliament on the opening day, and they naturally wished to warn them to stay away.
Catesby was strongly against doing anything which might arouse suspicion, and the conspirators agreed to keep silent.
However, someone broke the agreement. it is said it was Francis Tresham who sent an anonymous letter to his brother-in-law, Lord Monteagle, 10 days before the opening of parliament. In this letter he wrote:
‘I advise you to devise some excuse not to attend this parliament, for they shall receive a terrible blow, and yet shall not see who hurts them.’
Monteagle immediately showed the letter to the Lord Chancellor, and Catesby soon heard that a mysterious communication had found its way to the authorities.
Everything was set. Fawkes was ready; he was used to danger. He headed into the cellar and waited for the 5th of November. He had manufactured a fuse that was long enough to be placed in position so that it would burn for at least half an hour before exploding the gunpowder. This would leave him time to get clear.
On the 4th of November, the day before the opening of Parliament, Guy Fawkes was in the cellar., when he heard loud knocking at the door: it was Lord Monteagle and the Lord Chancellor, demanding to know what he was doing.
He replied that he was the servant of Thomas Percy, and that the cellar had been hired in his name. They inspected the cellar but did not find anything suspicious, as the gunpowder had been hidden under a stack of firewood. Lord Monteagle and The Lord Chancellor went away.
But at midnight, on 5th November, a magistrate and company of soldiers suddenly blasted into the cellar.
In spite of his struggles Guy Fawkes was overpowered and securely bound, and a more thorough search of the cellar very soon revealed the 30 or so barrels of gunpowder that were hidden.
Guy Fawkes was brought in for questioning. He was unrepentant, and for a long time he held out the names of his co-conspirators: it did neither them nor him any good, as eventually all of them would be rounded up and face King James I’s justice.
They were all executed with exception of Francis Tresham. Guy Fawkes was tortured and dragged on a sledge to a place of execution where he was hanged.
The Legacy: How It All Matters
The Gunpowder Plot was a major event in English history that had a lasting impact on the country and its people.
It increased the hostility and suspicion between Catholics and Protestants:
It made James I more paranoid and oppressive.
The collateral victims of this whole thing were women, as the King believed in witchcraft and sorcery – he had even written a book about it:
And in the wake of the plot he would launch a horrific campaign of witch hunts throughout the country, led by his Witchfinder Generals.
The Gunpowder Plot also inspired many other stories and movements. It has been adapted into books, plays, movies, and comics, such as the dystopian story ‘V for Vendetta’, featuring a vigilante wearing the Fawkesian mask.
It has also inspired groups such as Anonymous, a hacktivist collective that uses the same mask as a symbol to protest against corruption and injustice.
It also became a part of the British culture and tradition, as every year on November 5th people celebrate Guy Fawkes Night by lighting bonfires and fireworks, and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes or other unpopular figures.
And to this day, a careful search is made of lower levels of Houses of Parliament on the day before each state opening.
Tony P.
