Bonfire Night is, in my opinion, a criminally underrated occasion. I personally love standing in a muddy field in the freezing cold with my friends; all wrapped up in scarves, gloves and hats with a cup of hot chocolate keeping me from freezing over entirely. But when I’m gazing up at a gorgeous firework display on 5th November, it’s hard to think that this annual event actually came from a Catholic conspiracy to overthrow a Protestant monarch back in 1605. Many of you might have heard the rhyme: ‘Remember, remember the 5th November; Gunpowder, treason and plot…’ (nobody really says the rest). Many of you might have also heard a different name for the holiday: Guy Fawkes Night, after the man deemed to be the face of the conspiracy. So who is Guy Fawkes, and how did gunpowder, treason and plot lead to rockets, wheels and sparklers being shot into the air every year?
To very briefly summarise centuries of British history, there had been a lingering tension between Protestantism and Catholicism (two different branches of Christianity) both nationally and globally. The Reformation swept Britain by storm throughout the 16th Century, with Protestant leaders like Martin Luther and John Calvin criticising the Catholic Church’s immense wealth and corruption of the clergy (like with the selling of indulgences to ‘speed up’ a person’s journey through purgatory after death). Eventually, Henry VIII’s break with Rome in 1534 established the king as the supreme head of the Church of England. Over time, said Church moved away from Catholic tradition and practices (apart from a slight blip during Catholic Queen Mary I’s reign in 1553-58) and England became Protestant.
This leads us to the reign of James I of England (also James VI of Scotland). Britain was now a massive Protestant power, and although many Catholics were hoping for a bit of change and acceptance politically (possibly due to James being the son of the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots – confusingly different from the Catholic Mary I), unfortunately this never occurred. Anti-Catholicism was deeply embedded in most members of the House of Commons, although Catholics didn’t help themselves either, with small plots against James I such as the Bye Plot and the Main Plot (1603) limiting the amount of sympathy for Catholics in the UK.
But some Catholics just couldn’t help themselves, and the Gunpowder Plot was born. Although Guy Fawkes is the most famous (or potentially the only) name usually associated with the plot, he wasn’t actually the leader or instigator of it. That role goes to Robert Catesby (from Warwickshire – where I went to college!!), who proposed the plan in May 1604 to blow up James I, the House of Lords and the House of Commons during the State Opening of Parliament. He recruited the other 4 main conspirators: Thomas Wintour, John Wright, Thomas Percy and Guy Fawkes, and the plan started to form.
Guy Fawkes and some other plotters managed to smuggle 36 barrels of gunpowder into the undercroft (storeroom) directly beneath the House of Lords. The plan was finalised: Fawkes would light the fuse and then escape across the Thames. Meanwhile, a revolt in the Midlands would help to capture James I’s daughter, Elizabeth, who wouldn’t be present in Parliament on the day. It seemed like James and his Parliament were doomed; that was until the letter.
On the 26th October 1605, Catholic nobleman Lord Monteagle received an anonymous letter warning him to not attend the opening of Parliament on the 5th, as ‘they shall receive a terrible blow’ (not obvious at all). Unfortunately for the conspirators, Monteagle immediately showed the letter to Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury, who (eventually) showed it to the King on November 1st. On the 4th November, officials caught Guy Fawkes (who decided the best name to use as an alias was John Johnson) red-handed with the gunpowder under Parliament. He was arrested whilst the rest of the conspirators fled to the Midlands. They were also eventually apprehended on the 8th November, with Catesby, Percy and Wright being killed in a shoot-out and the rest being arrested and taken back to London.
Guy Fawkes and the other captured conspirators were then ‘interrogated’ (allegedly tortured) for 3 months in the Tower of London until confessions were gathered. Eventually, all of them ended up being executed in January of 1606, or dying before that. The aftermath for Catholics in Britain was devastating, and they wouldn’t start to be accepted properly in UK society until at least the 18th Century. Interestingly, it’s for this reason that many scholars have suspected the entire plot to be a state-mandated conspiracy. Essentially, Cecil may have made the entire letter exposing the plot up entirely, or at least let the conspiracy go on longer than it needed to be for the sake of a good story. Either way, the Gunpowder Plot was preserved in British history through its commemoration on 5th November every year, mandated by the Thanksgiving Act in 1606. Originally, countless sermons would be delivered on that date annually, until it grew to include different traditions, such as ringing church bells, bonfires and, you guessed it, fireworks!
Originally too, people would burn models of the Pope or the Devil, until it shifted to using Guy Fawkes instead. This is probably because as Catholics became more accepted into society, it might’ve been a little rude to keep that up. It’s interesting to me how Guy Fawkes became the face of the event. He wasn’t the leader nor did he come up with the idea. But he was the one that was supposed to actually light the fuse: the entire plan rested in his hands. Maybe that’s why he’s so renowned. Maybe it’s because his confession was one of only two that were printed in full. Maybe people needed a scapegoat after the 18th Century, when they had to stop regarding it as a ‘Catholic’ issue, but rather a ‘small group of Catholics’ issue. It’s not all bad for poor Guy Fawkes, though. Now, he’s seen less as a treasonous heretic and more as a symbol of anti-establishment and protest against tyranny.
Nobody really bothers with burning a Guy Fawkes made of straw on Bonfire Night anymore (which he might like to hear). Most people now just like watching a pretty firework display. But with the night itself fast approaching, maybe now you’ll think of Guy Fawkes when that first firework goes off, and how our entire Parliament could’ve gone kaboom because Catholics and Protestants just couldn’t get along.
Image credit: https://www.thebubble.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/fireworks.jpg