History Nugget: Guy Fawkes Day

Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason
Why Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot….

First of all, Happy November! Here in the United States, we didn’t learn about Guy Fawkes Day in school. It’s not really relevant to American history in any way.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Guy Fawkes Day, this history nerd has got your back.

Guy Fawkes Day, also known as Bonfire Night, is celebrated on November 5th. It commemorates the failure of the 1605, Gunpowder Plot.

What led to the Gunpowder Plot:

This was a tumultuous time in British history, to begin with, because King James VI was the King of Scotland until the death of Elizabeth I. He then became the King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns in March of 1603 until his death in 1625.

*King James I of England*. circa 1605. Wikimedia.

You see, much like her father before her, Catholicism was heavily repressed under Queen Elizabeth I, particularly after the pope excommunicated her in 1570. It was not easy being Catholic during Elizabeth’s reign, priests were put to death, and Catholics couldn’t even legally celebrate Mass or be married according to their rites. So, people had pretty high hopes for good ole’ James when he ascended the throne.

If you aren’t into British history, you may not know that Mary Queen of Scots was James’ mother and was Elizabeth I’s rival for the throne of England. Mary was also a devout Catholic while Elizabeth was a Protestant. When James united Britain and became the King of England there were rumors that he would convert to Catholicism.

However, it became clear shortly after James became King that he did not support the Catholic religion. And in 1604 he publicly condemned Catholicism as a superstition and ordered all Catholic priests to leave England. He also openly expressed concern that the number of Catholics in England was increasing.

It’s no surprise that English Catholics organized several failed conspiracies against Elizabeth, and these continued under James’ rule as well.

The Gunpowder Plot:

Let’s get back to Guy Fawkes Day, the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, who were led by Robert Catesby, and were, we will call them passionate, Roman Catholics angry that King James I refused to grant greater religious tolerance to Catholics. In May of 1604, a handful of Catholic dissidents including Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes, Tom Wintour, Jack Wright, and Thomas Percy, met at the Duck and Drake Inn in London. This is where Catesby suggested a plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament with gunpowder. After the meeting, all five men supposedly swore an oath of secrecy upon a prayer book.

It only made sense to do the most damage that they could, so the conspirators planned to blow up Parliament during the state opening. The intention was to kill the King and members of Parliament to clear the way to reestablish Catholic rule in England. At this point, James had already survived two other conspiracies within the first year of his reign.

The Actual Plan:

While it may have been Catesby’s idea, Guy Fawkes is synonymous with the failed plot. He used the alias John Johnson while serving as caretaker of a cellar, located just below the House of Lords, that the plotters had leased to stockpile gunpowder. The plan was for Fawkes to light a fuse on November 5, 1605, during the opening of a new session of Parliament. While Parliament was being blown to smithereens Fawkes would escape by boat across the River Thames. Meeting his fellow conspirators and starting an uprising in the English Midlands. The next step was to kidnap James’ daughter Elizabeth, install her as a “puppet” queen and eventually marry her off to a Catholic, thereby restoring the Catholic monarchy. It was quite a plan…but

Why it failed:

Ultimately, the plan failed when the conspirators were betrayed. Sometime around October 26, an anonymous letter advising a Catholic sympathizer to avoid the State Opening of Parliament alerted the authorities to the plot. It remains a mystery who wrote that letter. But many historians believe that it was fabricated and that the authorities already knew of the Gunpowder Plot. Only allowing it to progress as an excuse to further crackdown on Catholicism.

Guy Fawkes in Ordsall Cave. Made by George Cruikshank (1792-1878). Circa 1840. Wikimedia.

A search party found Fawkes lurking in his cellar around midnight on November 4, with matches in his pocket and 36 barrels of gunpowder stacked next to him. Guy Fawkes was taken into custody, brought to the Tower of London and tortured upon the special order of King James. The other conspirators were all either killed resisting capture or, like Fawkes, tried, convicted, and found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death in January 1606 by hanging, drawing and quartering. Not a good way to go.

*The execution of Guy Fawkes’ (Guy Fawkes)*, by Claes (Nicolaes) Jansz Visscher, given to the National Portrait Gallery, London in 1916. Wikimedia.

Funny enough, in the aftermath, Parliament declared November 5 a national day of thanksgiving, and the first celebration of it took place in 1606.

Guy Fawkes Today:

Today Guy Fawkes Day is renowned in the United Kingdom, and in several countries that were formerly part of the British Empire, with parades, fireworks, and bonfires. Straw effigies of Fawkes are tossed on the bonfire, as are, in more recent years in some places, those of contemporary political figures.

Fireworks are the major component of most Guy Fawkes Day celebrations. They, of course, represent the explosives that were never used by the plotters. Guards perform an annual search of the Parliament building to check for potential arsonists, although it is more ceremonial at this point than serious.

Guy Fawkes himself, has undergone somewhat of a makeover. Once only known as a notorious traitor, he is now portrayed in some circles as a revolutionary hero. This is largely due to the influence of the 1980s graphic novel “V for Vendetta” and the 2005 movie adaptation of the same name. It depicts a protagonist who wore a Guy Fawkes mask while battling a future fascist government in Britain. Guy Fawkes masks even cropped up at Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City and elsewhere. “Every generation reinvents Guy Fawkes to suit their needs,” explained historian William B. Robison of Southeastern Louisiana University.

HBO did a mini-series called Gunpowder a few years ago that was excellent. It featured Kit Harington, Liv Tyler and Tom Hardy. It was great and definitely worth a watch in my opinion.