Whether you are English or an avid V for Vendetta enthusiast, you may have heard of Guy Fawkes. His legacy is divided depending on who you ask. A revolutionary or a traitor. Much in the sense of Cromwell, but without the civil war. Most remember him for the infamous Gunpowder Plot and the nice rhyme:Remember, Remember the 5th of November The Gunpowder Treason and Plot, I can Think of no Reason Why the Gunpowder Treason Should Ever Be Forgot.
Now, with most people carrying the same traits, do not tend to have a long life due to the fact that they usually die in the process of carrying out their cause whether they succeeded or not. But from that short life, his impact left a crater in British history.
In a home (which in present day, is an inn/pub with his name) on High Petergate in York, England, Guy Fawkes was born into this world. His father, Edward, a notary working for the Archbishop of York, would leave this world when the young Fawkes was only 9. His widowed mother would remarry in 1582 to a Catholic man named, Denis Bainbridge. His stepfather would have quite the influence on Fawkes to which he converted to Catholicism when he was 16.
Now, it is at this time I have to pause from the biography to share history. It was the current affairs in England that would shape Fawkes from an unnoticeable man to someone who will not be forgot.
It is in the time of Henry VIII, man who was Catholic and King. With wives not producing male heirs, Henry would go through 6 wives. But during this, Henry would have a tremendous split from Rome when the Pope would not allow anymore annulments or divorces to the King. The King needing a male heir went against the wishes of the Vatican and remarried. The Pope would excommunicate Henry from the Church and Henry, in a tune of schoolboy shennagins, said, "Whatever, I'll make my own Church." This is the beginning of the Church of England and the Anglican (or Episcopalian in the US) faith. Now, this faith was actually Catholicism, but the priests could marry and you are/were allowed divorce, but you can only remarry in an Anglican church if your former spouse was dead.
This was the start of the English Reformation. Now, with the death of Henry VIII, his son Edward VI would become king. However, he was nine when he was crowned and could not execute any powers. Edward VI would not reach the age to execute those powers having died at the age of 16. Mary I would take over the crown. With upheaval of religious affairs, Elizabeth would proclaim Catholicism as the religion of the realm. Oh, and she had a nice nickname, "Bloody Mary" and for good reason. She would have her father's appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, burned at the stake for heresy, so that she could install her Catholic bishop. She would further persecute protestants throughout England, turning most into martyrs, through her Heresy Acts. She would reign and die. Elizabeth I would grab the throne and once again reverse the official religion back to Anglicanism.
Now, in this time Catholics were persecuted against as well. The Penal Laws were now enacted making it an act of treason to reconcile to the Catholic faith. It also made it treasonous for Catholic priests to be A) Catholic and B) to attempt to spread their faith. Also, it was a felony to aid and harbor a Catholic.
And this is where our story picks back up. Guy Fawkes whilst living in York and recently converted knew the hardships he would have to bear. Margaret Clitherow, someone he did know, was arrested for harboring Catholics and she was ultimately crushed to death for her "treason". She is now a martyr and a saint in the Catholic church.
After leaving school, the young Fawkes would assist in the Dutch Revolt. He spent 10 years fighting for the Spanish (Catholic) cause. This is also where he adopted the nickname of "Guido" and became an expert in explosives.
Upon returning home to England, Guy met up with former schoolmates, John and Christopher Wright and Thomas Morton (who would later become the Bishop of Durham). They would also meet, Robert Catesby, the mastermind behind the Gunpowder Plot. Angered and fed up with the oppression imposed onto Catholics in England, they decided to do something about it.
It was their intention to assassinate King James I and prominent protestant members of the House of Lords. It would be done when the State Opening of Parliament. This would ensure all Lords and the King himself would be there. If succeeded, prominent Catholic families would become the new Lords and Mary Tudor, the Duchesses of Suffolk, and a Catholic would become monarch. They envisioned radical reforms would come to repeal the Penal Laws.
They first schemed to mine under the House of Lords and get the barrels of gunpowder in that way. Parliament was to open in 1604, but due to an outbreak of the Plague, it was postponed until 1605. While it was delay might have hampered their plans, it was good news considering they have not got far enough in the mining to break through the floor and implant the explosives.
As 1605 rolled around, parliament was again postponed until the 3rd of October.
By sheer happenstance, a ground floor undercroft directly beneath the House of Lords opened up. Upon hearing the news, another conspirator Thomas Percy, quickly leased out the space. By March of 1605, they had placed 36 barrels of gunpowder into the loft. They piled massive amounts of wood on top and said it was a stockpile for winter heating. Not wanting to arouse any suspicion, the conspirators left London to their respective homes. They would reconvene in September. However, once again, the opening of Parliament would be postponed to November 5th.
Prior to the opening, a fellow conspirator, Sir Francis Tresham, wrote to his brother-in-law, Lord Monteagle. Monteagle was aligned with prominent Catholic families and was a sympathizer to their plight. Sir Francis, not wanting a sympathizer and possibly a good ally if they succeeded decided to inform Monteagle of the plot by cryptically writing the following:
“Therefore, I would advise you as you value your life, to find some excuse not to attend this Parliament. For though there is no sign of any trouble, yet I say, they shall receive a terrible blow at this Parliament, yet they shall not see who hurts them.”
Aroused by the suspicion that something was going down, Monteagle had the letter shown to the king. The kind ordered Sir Thomas Knyvet to check the cellars underneath the House of Lords. Shortly after midnight on November 5th, Sir Thomas found and arrested Guy Fawkes in the loft that had been rented.
As torture was illegal, it was permitted if found to be in the interest of the State. The King ordered Guy to be tortured very lightly and to increase if he remained tight-lipped. Fawkes would hold on for five days until he finally broke. He confessed to his involvement of the plot and gave only the names of the conspirators that he knew were dead or were being arrested at that moment.
Fawkes, as well as his fellow conspirators, were tried and were found guilty of treason. The sentence was to be hung and drawn and quartered. How that worked back then was they were first hung until they were almost dead, released, and then drawn and quartered. Fawkes not particularly wanting enjoy being ripped apart by horses, decided to give one last finger to the monarchy. As soon as the noose was placed around his neck, Fawkes would jumped from the gallows, which would break his neck and kill him.
The King proclaimed victory against the Catholics and told the people to celebrate by lighting bonfires and burning effigies of Guy (and the Pope for those really against the Catholics). This would be the hard shut to the large book of Catholics making England Catholic again. And the Glorious Revolution that would follow was the lock and key. England would prevail through it all, eventually anti-Catholic laws would be repealed, Catholics would receive the same rights as protestants, and they would eventually be allowed to practice their faith as openly as any other, but it came without its share of blood.
To this day, Fawkes' legacy lives on. On every November 5th in Great Britain, bonfires and fireworks light the sky. While it is a celebration of the monarch surviving and protestantism remaining; when I lived there I lit my fireworks for him. Who knows how England would have changed, maybe for the better or maybe it could have been worse. But the man fought for what was right and went down swinging. I think we can all admire some aspect of that.
And in case you are wondering whether or not if the plot went through would it have blown up the building? Yes, it would have. It would have made the House of Lords a pile of rubble and it would have killed everyone inside and anyone within 300 feet of the blast. Here is an article following the experiment.
And as always folks, Remember, Remember the 5th of November.
NOTE: While this is a lengthy article, I must make a disclaimer. For the sake of brevity, I only mentioned the essential beginnings and end of the English Reformation. I know and I am fully aware of the intricacies that would happen with the English Reformation. It may look lazy, but as stated, if I included all aspects, this article would have been a book.
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