by Susan Klatz Beal

Created on: November 05, 2009   Last Updated: November 07, 2009

Guy Fawkes was one of the conspirators of a plot to blow up Britain's Parliament in 1605. The plot came to be known as the "Gunpowder Plot." Although four centuries have passed since Fawkes was caught, tortured and executed, and even though the plot was foiled, it is still an occasion for lots of celebration.

*Who was Guy Fawkes? -

Guy Fawkes was a Protestant who was born in 1570. He converted to Catholicism 1593 and shortly thereafter, he joined the Spanish Army in the Netherlands. During his time in the military, he participated in the 1595 capture of Calais in France. He earned a reputation because of his military accomplishments, and it is because of those accomplishments that he was approached by the co-conspirators.

*Who were the co-conspirators? -

The fellow co-conspirators were Catholics who sought to behead or destroy the British government, because they wanted to bring Catholicism back to England. They hatched a plan to explode gunpowder under Parliament at a time when King James I and his queen, family members and government leaders were all present there.

*What was the plan? -

They planned their plot for November 5, 1605, and the conspirators planned to stay in a cellar they rented under the building where Fawkes had stashed the roughly 20 barrels of gunpowder. The plan started to unravel, however, because one of the co-conspirators who sought greater support for them, told his brother-in-law, who just so happened to be a Lord in Parliament. He also told him not to attend Parliament on November 5th.

The Lord, of course, notified the authorities, and the building was promptly searched. When the stash of gunpowder was found, they seized it. Fawkes was captured as well.

*Fawkes's arrest, trial and the sentences -

After Fawkes was arrested, he was tortured until he was willing to give up the names of his conspirators, which he obviously did. Some of the conspirators tried to resist arrest, however, and they were killed while resisting. Fawkes and those who survived pleaded not guilty, and they went to trial where they were later convicted of high treason. Sometime in January of 1606, the remaining conspirators were hanged, and then they were drawn and quartered.

*Parliament declares a day of celebration -

After Fawkes and the other traitors were executed, Parliament established a day of celebration on November 5. It was given the name of Guy Fawkes Day, but it is also known as Bonfire Day. The holiday is commemorated with celebrations all over the United Kingdom.

Every year on November 5, Britons gather together to celebrate Fawkes's demise by burning likenesses of him in effigy, and by lighting fireworks and bonfires. Children roam the streets with effigies that are affectionately known as "Guys," and they ask passersby to donate a penny for "the guy." The money is used to cover the cost of the fireworks displays throughout towns everywhere. In addition to the traditional fireworks, families gather for feasting, festivities, the lighting of their own fireworks and bonfires.

SOURCE:

Guy Fawkes

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