12/24/2023 0 Comments Upload gifox to twitter![]() Guy Fawkes Day festivities soon spread as far as the American colonies, where they became known as Pope Day. Guy Fawkes Day Becomes a HolidayĪfter the plot was revealed, Londoners began lighting celebratory bonfires, and in January 1606 an act of Parliament designated November 5 as a day of thanksgiving. In fact, Catholics were not fully emancipated in England until the 19th century. A Jesuit priest was also executed a few months later for his alleged involvement, even as new laws banned Catholics from voting in elections, practicing law or serving in the military. Soon after, his co-conspirators were likewise arrested, except for four, including Catesby, who died in a shootout with English troops.įawkes and his surviving co-conspirators were all found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death in January 1606 by hanging, drawing and quartering. For Fawkes, the plot’s failure could be blamed on “the devil and not God.” He was taken to the Tower of London and tortured upon the special order of King James. Either way, a search party found Fawkes skulking in his cellar around midnight on November 4, with matches in his pocket and 36 barrels of gunpowder stacked next to him. Some historians have even suggested that it was fabricated and that the authorities already knew of the Gunpowder Plot, only letting it progress as an excuse to further crack down on Catholicism. To this day, no one knows for sure who wrote the letter. On October 26, an anonymous letter advising a Catholic sympathizer to avoid the State Opening of Parliament alerted the authorities to the existence of a plot. In the meantime, as Fawkes escaped by boat across the River Thames, his fellow conspirators would start an uprising in the English Midlands, kidnap James’ daughter Elizabeth, install her as a puppet queen and eventually marry her off to a Catholic, thereby restoring the Catholic monarchy. James, his eldest son, the House of Lords and the House of Commons would all be blown sky-high. Under the plan, Fawkes would light a fuse on November 5, 1605, during the opening of a new session of Parliament. He also used the alias John Johnson while serving as caretaker of a cellar-located just below the House of Lords-that the plotters had leased in order to stockpile gunpowder. Fawkes also apparently expressed strong anti-Scottish prejudices.īy 1605, Fawkes was calling himself Guido rather than Guy. According to writings in the Spanish archives, Fawkes believed the English king was a heretic who would drive out his Catholic subjects. He also personally petitioned the king of Spain for help in starting an English rebellion against James. Born in 1570 in York, England, Fawkes spent about a decade fighting for Spain against Protestant rebels in the Spanish-controlled Netherlands. But although Catesby was the ringleader, Fawkes has garnered most of the publicity over the past 400-plus years. The Gunpowder Plot Is Hatched-Then FoiledĮight other conspirators would later join what became known as the Gunpowder Plot. Afterward, all five men purportedly swore an oath of secrecy upon a prayer book. Then, in May 1604, a handful of Catholic dissidents-Guy Fawkes, Robert Catesby, Tom Wintour, Jack Wright and Thomas Percy-met at the Duck and Drake Inn in London, where Catesby proposed a plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament with gunpowder. Another related conspiracy that year, known as the Main Plot, sought to kill James and install his cousin on the throne. ![]() In 1603 a few priests and laymen hatched the so-called Bye Plot to kidnap James, only to be turned in by fellow Catholics. He also largely continued with the repressive policies of his predecessor, such as fines for those refusing to attend Protestant services.Įnglish Catholics had organized several failed conspiracies against Elizabeth, and these continued under James. In 1604 he publicly condemned Catholicism as a superstition, ordered all Catholic priests to leave England and expressed concern that the number of Catholics was increasing. It soon became clear, however, that James did not support religious tolerance for Catholics. There were even rumors, inspired by his diplomatic overtures to the pope, that James himself would become Catholic. ![]() James’ wife, Anne, is believed to have previously converted to Catholicism, and his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was Elizabeth’s Catholic arch-rival prior to being executed. As a result, many Catholics had high hopes when King James I took the throne upon Elizabeth’s death in 1603. During her reign, dozens of priests were put to death, and Catholics could not even legally celebrate Mass or be married according to their own rites. British Parliament Background to the Gunpowder PlotĬatholicism in England was heavily repressed under Queen Elizabeth I, particularly after the pope excommunicated her in 1570. ![]()
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