After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English
Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor,
James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had
a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant
than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent
action was the answer.
A small group took shape, under the leadership of
Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the
thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would
kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament
who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators
would be known as extremists, or terrorists.
To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of
36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of
Lords.
But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear
that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some
people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters
started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous
letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on
November 5th. Was the letter real?
The warning letter reached the King, and the King's
forces made plans to stop the conspirators.
Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament
with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early
hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.
It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been
able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been
betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be
useless. Since Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying
to ignite the powder, we'll never know for certain.
Even for the period which was notoriously unstable,
the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In
fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year,
on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the
Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of
the Palace of Westminster. Nowadays, the Queen and Parliament still observe
this tradition.
On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled,
on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the
King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is
commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a
bonfire.
Some of the
English have been known to wonder, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, whether
they are celebrating Fawkes' execution or honoring his attempt to do away with
the government.
Was Guy framed?
There was no doubt an attempt to blow up Parliament
on November 5th 1605. But Guy Fawkes and his associates may have been caught in
a Jacobean sting operation which would have served the authorities by casting
Catholics, or Recusants, as an enemy to be pursued.
By the time Queen Elizabeth died, after ruling for
about fifty years, most people only remembered living under her rule. When
James I succeeded to the throne, many saw an opportunity for change. Those who
felt particularly hard done by, both by Elizabeth I and James I, even felt that
the situation was so bad as to require, in Fawkes' own words, "a desperate
remedy": it was an opportunity to simply replace the current king.
These were unstable times indeed, with several
smaller plots being discovered in the years preceding 1605. In fact, many of
the Gunpowder plotters were known as traitors to the authorities. For this
reason, it would have been difficult, if not unlikely, for them to gather 36
barrels of gunpowder and store them in a cellar under the house of Lords
without the security forces getting suspicious.
Furthermore, the letter warning one of the members of
government to stay away from Parliament is believed today to have been
fabricated by the king's officials. Historians suggest that the King's
officials already knew about the plot, that one of the plotters in fact
revealed the key points of the plot to the authorities. The suspected turncoat?
Francis Tresham.
The letter, then, would be a tool created by the
King's officials to explain how, at the last minute, the king found out about
the Plot and stopped it just before it wreaked its havoc on Parliament and
himself. At the same time, the letter was vague enough to give the officials
all the latitude they wanted in falsifying confessions and to pursue their own
anti-Catholic ends.
There are two fundamental problems with the letter.
Firstly, the letter was unsigned. Any and all of the conspirators, once
apprehended, might have saved themselves from torture and perhaps even death if
they could claim to have written it. None did. Not one of the conspirators who
was caught appears to have known about the letter. Secondly, the letter was very
vague in its content. It said nothing about the details of the planned attack.
Still, the king and his men knew exactly the where and when to catch the
conspirators and stop the explosion just hours before it was to take place.
Guy left his name for everyday use
Today, we use the word "guy" to mean
"person" or "man", as in "that guy across the
street". Although the Oxford English Dictionary won't vouch for this
theory, many linguists and historians think that our use of the term in that
way is from our friend Guy Fawkes.
It's difficult to trace the exact path of the word
over the centuries, but it probably started by referring to the effigy of
Fawkes that was thrown on top of the bonfire every November 5th as "a
guy". Still today, as they walk down the street trying to collect money
for fireworks, kids will ask for "a penny for the guy." From there,
it's not a huge leap to talk about "a guy" as a living person. The
use of the word would have grown from there.
The Opening of Parliament
Another tradition still observed by Britons is the
annual visit of the Queen to Parliament every year. Ever since the Gunpowder
Plot, the reigning monarch enters the Parliament only once a year, on what is
called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and
according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of
Westminster. Today, the Queen and Parliament still observe this tradition.
No one really expects to find 36 barrels of gunpowder
when our Yeomen undertake this task every year. But, just like most of us who
like a good Bonfire Night, it's clear the Lords and MPs like a bit of a
celebration, too.
For 400 years, bonfires have burned on November 5th
to mark the failed Gunpowder Plot.
The tradition of Guy Fawkes-related bonfires actually
began the very same year as the failed coup. The Plot was foiled in the night
between the 4th and 5th of November 1605. Already on the 5th, agitated
Londoners who knew little more than that their King had been saved, joyfully
lit bonfires in thanksgiving. As years progressed, however, the ritual became
more elaborate.
Soon, people began placing effigies onto bonfires,
and fireworks were added to the celebrations. Effigies of Guy Fawkes, and
sometimes those of the Pope, graced the pyres. Still today, some communities
throw dummies of both Guy Fawkes and the Pope on the bonfire (and even those of
a contemporary politician or two), although the gesture is seen by most as a
quirky tradition, rather than an expression of hostility towards the Pope.
Preparations for Bonfire Night celebrations include
making a dummy of Guy Fawkes, which is called "the Guy". Some
children even keep up an old tradition of walking in the streets, carrying
"the Guy" they have just made, and beg passersby for "a penny
for the Guy." The kids use the money to buy fireworks for the evening
festivities.
On the night itself, Guy is placed on top of the
bonfire, which is then set alight; and fireworks displays fill the sky.
The extent of the celebrations and the size of the
bonfire varies from one community to the next. Lewes, in the South East of
England, is famous for its Bonfire Night festivities and consistently attracts
thousands of people each year to participate.
Bonfire Night is not only celebrated in Britain. The
tradition crossed the oceans and established itself in the British colonies
during the centuries. It was actively celebrated in New England as "Pope
Day" as late as the 18th century. Today, November 5th bonfires
still light up in far out places like New Zealand and Newfoundland in Canada.
The British Council has also a great multimedia lesson plan available here. You can either do it by yourself if you are a student or explore it in class if you are a teacher.
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