Background James I took over the English throne in 1603 He was a Protestant, and kept England Protestant Infuriated extreme Catholics, who still wanted England to be a Catholic nation They disliked the law that made all Catholics attend Anglican church services They also hated that a Scottish king was ruling England
The Plot a group of English Catholics planned to assassinate the Protestant King James led by Robert Catesby A wealthy English Catholic whose father had been persecuted due to his religious beliefs The plan was to replace him with James 9-yr.-old daughter, Elizabeth, who was in the line of succession believed they could influence her to make the country Catholic again In May 1604, Catesby devised the Gunpowder Plot Plan was not just to kill James, but also as many Members of Parliament as possible Guy Fawkes was one of the first to agree under oath to join the conspiracy
Engraving showing 8 of the 13 conspirators
Guy Fawkes Fawkes was an Elizabethan nobleman and politician Was a devoted Catholic Left Protestant England and enlisted in the Spanish army in the Netherlands gained experience with explosives In 1604, Guy met another Englishman called Thomas Winter, who had been in Spain trying to drum up support for English Catholics
The Plot Catesby's plan involved blowing up the houses of Parliament on Nov. 5, 1605 King James was due to open Parliament that day at first, the group tried to tunnel under Parliament, but it changed tactics when Thomas Percy was able to rent a cellar under the House of Lords the cellar was then filled with 36 barrels of gunpowder Fawkes, because of his munitions experience in the Netherlands, was given the task of creating the explosion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yptnonmnxh0
The Plot The plot was discovered before it could be carried out Lord Monteagle, the brother-in-law of one of the plotters and a Catholic MP, received an anonymous letter which warned against attending Parliament for the opening Monteagle passed the letter on to the king s advisors, who took action the cellars were searched the night before the opening of Parliament https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edhuxbe_nbk Fawkes was caught, while his fellow conspirators fled They subsequently either were killed resisting arrest or were captured and executed
In this 17th century engraving, Fawkes, far left, is discovered in the cellar
The Aftermath Fawkes said he regarded the King as a disease since he had been excommunicated by the Pope he was sent to the Tower of London Over 4 days, he was questioned and tortured on the rack and eventually confessed and gave the names of his conspirators On Jan. 31, 1606, Fawkes was hung, drawn, and quartered his genitals were cut off and burnt before his eyes, and his bowels and heart removed He was then be decapitated, and the dismembered parts of his body was then displayed
On Jan. 31, 1606, Fawkes and three others were publicly executed in London
The Legacy King James created a holiday from its failure (Nov. 5 th Guy Fawkes Day) New laws were passed removing Catholics' right to vote and restricting their role in public life This holiday is still celebrated to this day with fireworks, bonfires, and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes Remember remember the fifth of November Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder, treason Should ever be forgot...
An effigy of the Pope is also burned every year in the Lewes parade - a nod to the 17 Protestant martyrs from the town who were burned at the stake during the 16th Century
Legacy influenced the comic book and film V for Vendetta about a freedom fighter ( V ) attempting to start a revolution against an authoritarian, fascist regime V bases his actions and ideas on those of Guy Fawkes, and even dresses as Fawkes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe1ugkhj9xa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yczrlboxwvu Also has been the influence for rebellions and protests ranging from the Arab Spring in 2011 to the Occupy movement in 2011 According to David Lloyd, who created a comic strip in the 1980s, the mask has become a creative way to protest against tyranny.
Protesters at an Occupy demonstration in Barcelona, Oct. 15, 2011
Protesters in Madrid wear Fawkes masks during a demonstration on July 24, 2011, as they demand the release of Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier accused of passing restricted material to the website WikiLeaks
A protester wears a Guy Fawkes mask in Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt during clashes with riot police, Nov. 21, 2011
A Bahraini woman wears a Guy Fawkes mask during an anti-regime rally, April 12, 2013
Nov. 12, 2011, in Berlin, Germany
London, Nov. 2013
A street vendor sells Guy Fawkes masks in Istanbul, Turkey, June 5, 2013