The man behind a failed plot to blow up the English Parliament in 1605, Guy Fawkes (1570–1606) is one of the most notorious figures in the nation’s history. Had his plan succeeded, it would have killed the king, his ministers, and most of the English government. November 5, the anniversary of his arrest in a London basement, is still celebrated annually in Britain as Guy Fawkes Day.
Fawkes, a Roman Catholic, planned the attack with other English dissidents to protest increasingly strict anti-Catholic laws. The discovery of the plot, however, only served to worsen the plight of English Catholics, who were subjected to a series of punitive, discriminatory laws. The holiday itself was initially an overtly anti-Catholic celebration, with the festivities often including burning the pope in effigy.
Born in York, Fawkes converted to Catholicism at age sixteen and traveled to continental Europe in 1593 to fight in religious wars in France and the Netherlands. During his time in the Netherlands, he connected with a network of exiled English Catholics who would form the center of the Gunpowder Plot.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603), Catholics faced constant harassment and were required to attend Anglican services. Many Catholics hoped for improved conditions under her successor, King James I (1566–1625), and were enraged when he continued Elizabeth’s religious policies. The plot was hatched by Robert Catesby (1573–1605), who recruited Fawkes to lead the conspiracy in 1604.
The plotters rented a house next door to the building where Parliament met and began clandestinely moving barrels of gunpowder into the basement. They planned to strike during the ceremonial opening of Parliament, which virtually the entire government establishment would attend.
The plot was discovered, however, after one of the conspirators attempted to warn a Catholic peer, Lord Monteagle (1575–1622), against attending the ceremony. He tipped off the government, and the authorities arrested Fawkes the next week. Along with the other conspirators, he was executed, after a one-day trial.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- After Fawkes was arrested, the barrels of gunpowder were tested and found to be decayed; even if he had lit the fuse, the explosives probably would not have gone off.
- In the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot, Parliament passed a wave of discriminatory legislation that barred British Catholics from practicing law, serving as military officers, or voting. The right to vote was not restored to Catholics until 1829.
- The Parliament building burned down in 1834 after fire spread from a stove. The current Palace of Westminster, home to both houses of Parliament, was constructed in the 1840s and 1850s.
