Thursday, November 5, 2009
Daily TWiP - Guy Fawkes attempts to blow up Parliament today in 1605
Welcome to the Daily TWiP, your daily dose of all the holidays, historical observances, etc., we couldn't cram into The Week in Preview.
Today in 1605, Guy Fawkes was arrested while leaving a cellar beneath the British Parliament. Although he lied about his identity, claiming his name was John Johnson, he freely confessed to his intentions: to destroy both King James I and the members of Parliament by lighting the 36 barrels of gunpowder he had concealed in the cellar.
Fawkes was a member of a network of wealthy Catholics who were fed up with the sanctioned persecution of Catholics in Protestant England. They had hoped for greater tolerance of their religion when James I had ascended the throne, but found those hopes quickly dashed.
Deciding it was time for drastic measures, Robert Catesby concocted what has come to be known as The Gunpowder Plot.
In essence, the plan was to blow up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening, when the king, the aristocracy, and the nobility would all be present. With the Protestant rulers gone (as well as many Catholic ones), Catesby and his co-conspirators would orchestrate a rebellion, during which James I's oldest daughter Elizabeth would be put on the throne as a Catholic monarch.
Fawkes, a soldier with extensive experience in explosives, was a key part of this complicated plan. Had he succeeded in lighting the gunpowder, the explosion would not only have destroyed the Houses of Parliament but many of the buildings in the surrounding complex. Any buildings within a one kilometer radius of the area would have had their windows blown out.
To the dismay of the conspirators, this was never to be. It is thought that Sir Francis Tresham, one of the conspirators, was concerned for the safety of the Catholic members of Parliament (specifically, his brother-in-law Lord Monteagle) and sent Monteagle the anonymous letter that begged him not to attend the opening of Parliament and revealed certain details of the plot.
Similar letters were received by other members of Parliament and the king was alerted to the plot, but it was generally thought to be a hoax. The conspirators decided to go ahead with the plan regardless, which resulted in Fawkes' arrest as he was leaving the cellar after making sure the explosives were in place.
Fawkes was taken to the Tower of London and tortured in an effort to get the names of the rest of the conspirators, but he resisted for several days. At this time, he learned that many of his fellow plotters had publicly revealed themselves. He then gave the authorities only the names of those who had already made themselves known or who had died as the result of revealing their involvement.
Several months later, Fawkes and the surviving conspirators were sentenced to be hung until nearly dead and then drawn and quartered until completely dead. We will not go into details, but we can assure you it is an extremely nasty way to die.
Fawkes avoided the second half of his execution by jumping off the scaffold while the noose was around his neck. The fall broke his neck and he died instantly.
The foiling of The Gunpowder Plot is commemorated by the British each year as Guy Fawkes Night, or alternatively, Bonfire Night or Fireworks Night. As the latter names imply, the holiday is celebrated with firework displays and bonfires. Traditionally, an effigy of Fawkes, simply called a "guy," would be burnt on the bonfires, but this has become less common in recent years.