The same storeroom likewise attracted his attention, as did the man Knyvett found guarding it. He was not dressed like a watchman; instead he was wearing a cloak, boots, and spurs—clothes more suited, it seemed, for making a quick getaway on horseback. Knyvett had uncovered an astonishing conspiracy to blow up the members of both Houses of Parliament, the king, most of the royal family, and leading officers of state.
Arrested and tortured, John Johnson revealed that he was from Yorkshire in northern England and that his real name was Guy Fawkes. He was one of several Catholic conspirators in what became known as the Gunpowder Plot. While not the ringleader himself, Fawkes became the best known member of the most famous conspiracy in English history. His capture has been illustrated in countless schoolbooks, novels, popular works of history, and movies: a tall, bearded figure in boots, dark cloak, and dark, wide-brimmed hat.
It is his figure that is still burned in effigy on bonfires around England every year on November 5. To understand the motivations of the man arrested that November night more than years ago, however, it is necessary to examine an England and a Europe different from today.
Fawkes and his fellow conspirators attempted to mount a terrorist attack on their own king and government because of religious upheavals occurring half a century before. The political and religious instability unleashed by the Reformation had resulted in pitting Catholics against Protestants throughout Europe. In England religious strife resulted in the accession of Elizabeth I in The monarch was at its head, although it retained bishops, along with the traditional church courts and some pre-Reformation ceremonial practices.
Many English Catholics refused to accept the settlement. In this period it was generally accepted in Europe that all subjects of a state should adhere to its official form of Christianity. To achieve this religious uniformity, the Elizabethan regime forbade Catholic worship, including performance of baptisms, marriages, and funerals. Being a practicing Catholic was punishable by law. Fines, which could be very heavy for habitual offenders, were imposed on those refusing to attend Church of England services.
Printing or importing Catholic books became high treason. Foreign-trained English Catholic priests who entered England were declared traitors, as were those who helped, housed, or hid them. All men taking administrative office, from members of Parliament to schoolteachers, had to swear an oath denying the power of the pope and recognizing Elizabeth as head of the church.
Elsewhere, England was involved in constant warfare in Ireland, which was populated by Catholics. English Protestant propaganda stressed atrocities committed in the name of Catholicism.
By the close of the 16th century the Spanish Armada—dispatched in by Philip II of Spain, and defeated by Elizabeth—was still a fresh memory, along with its mission to reimpose Catholicism in England. Religion also dominated the situation on the other side of the English Channel.
Farther north, the Protestant Dutch Republic was embroiled in a bitter conflict with Spain. The sack of Antwerp by Spanish troops in provided English Protestants with another example of Catholic cruelty. Even Spanish agents expressed doubts about stirring up a Catholic uprising in England now that James had taken the throne. International relations took a more placid turn as well.
The king was to have attended Parliament on November 5. After a brief trial, Guy Fawkes was sentenced, along with the other surviving chief conspirators, to be hanged, drawn, and quartered in London.
On January 30, , the gruesome public executions began in London, and on January 31 Fawkes was called to meet his fate. While climbing to the hanging platform, however, he jumped from the ladder and broke his neck, dying instantly.
As dusk falls in the evening, villagers and city dwellers across Britain light bonfires, set off fireworks, and burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes, celebrating his failure to blow up Parliament and James I. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! June 6, is considered one of the most pivotal moments in modern history. Better known by its codename, D-Day, the Allied assault on five beaches in Nazi-occupied France was the result of over a year of planning and jockeying amongst various military and political leaders.
President Harry S. Truman publicly announces his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II. Five months earlier, the United States had lost its Apollo 14, piloted by astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr. Mitchell, and Stuart A. They planned to put gunpowder under the house and blow up parliament and the king.
Guy Fawkes was given the job to keep watch over the barrels of gunpowder and to light the fuse. On the morning of 5 th November, soldiers discovered Guy hidden in the cellar and arrested him.
The trail of gunpowder at his feet would never be lit. Guy Fawkes was taken to the Tower of London. He was tortured and questioned about the other plotters. To start with he didn't tell the soldiers anything about the plot. But, eventually he started to tell the truth. In celebration of his survival, King James ordered that the people of England should have a great bonfire on the night on 5 th November.
The searching of the cellars of Parliament before the opening of each new session, however, was not introduced until Play a Fireworks Game Can you move the gunpowder barrels into their correct positions?
Mandy is the creator of the Woodlands Resources section of the Woodlands Junior website.
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