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Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot - part 1
2005 is the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot, one of the most
notorious plots in history. On Tuesday 5th November 1605 Guy
Fawkes was discovered in the cellars below the Houses of
Parliament with a watch, a slow match, touch paper and a dark
lantern. It became known as the Gunpowder plot and was part of a
Catholic revolutionary plan to overthrow King James I of England
and VI of Scotland.
The country was in turmoil after more than 50 years of
Elizabethan protestant rule. A little over two years before a
number of Catholics had been involved in what came to be known
as the Main Plot and the Bye Plot to rid England of its
Protestant king.
Fundamentally the Gunpowder Plot was a desperate but failed
attempt by a group of provincial English Catholic extremists to
kill King James I of England, his family, and most of the
Protestant aristocracy in one go. They would achieve this by
blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening.
The conspirators had then planned to abduct the royal children,
not present in parliament, and then incite a revolt in the
Midlands.
There were 13 men involved in the Gunpowder plot of 1605. Robert
Catesby was the ringleader. His servant Thomas Bates assisted
him. Among the rest were brothers Thomas and Robert Wintour,
Christopher Wright, Thomas Percy, John Grant, Ambrose Rokewood,
Sir Everard Digby, Francis Tresham and of course Guy Fawkes.
Born in York on 13th April 1570 to a Protestant family Guy
Fawkes converted to Catholicism when he was 16. He spent time in
the army and as a mercenary and became an expert on explosives.
He became involved in the Gunpowder plot when Hugh Owen
introduced him to Robert Catesby. They needed his knowledge of
explosives to set up a huge blast that would kill not only the
King but also most of the Protestant Parliament.
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The conspirators managed to rent a cellar directly under the
House of Lords. Over the course of a few months Guy Fawkes
filled this until by March 1605 there were 2 ½ tonnes of
gunpowder in 36 barrels belonging to John Whynniard that were
hidden under piles of bric-a-brac and behind stacks winter fuel.
If the Gunpowder plot had succeeded then the resulting explosion
would have destroyed many of the buildings around the Old Palace
of Westminster. The windows of buildings in about a half-mile
radius would have been blown out and many people would have been
killed.
About the author:
This article may be freely reproduced with the following
resource box which must include a live link:
Lesley Pinkett lives and works in East Devon and is the owner of
http://www.east-devon-guide.com/guyfawkes1 which is packed with
information about this beautiful corner of England.
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