8-2GuyFawkes


 * Who is Guy Fawkes? What is his legacy?

// Answer Prepared By Sara P. // ** Fireworks, a huge bonfire, an effigy of Guy Fawkes, and toffee apples all make the 5th of November celebrations special. On November 5th, 1605, Guy Fawkes and a group of Catholic extremists attempted to assassinate King James the First and wipe out everyone in government.

In the Reformation of the sixteenth century, Protestants across Europe demanded the reform of the Roman Catholic Church. The last thirty years of the sixteenth century was, according to the Gunpowder Plot website, “consumed by bitter and bloody religious wars.” When King James the First became king after Queen Elizabeth many people hoped for peace. King James considered himself to be a peacemaker. He was a Protestant like Queen Elizabeth, but his mother had been a Catholic so he was also expected to be much less severe against the Catholic Church than Elizabeth had been. The king soon realized that making peace would be very hard after the discovery of a few minor plots, like the Bye Plot. The people involved in the Bye Plot were planning to kidnap the king and force him to make England more pro-catholic. James the First began to have a callous attitude toward Catholics, and did less to stop the arguing.

Disappointed by the feeble attempts to make peace between the two religions a group of young Catholic gentlemen from the Midlands, some people who had been involved in previous plotting, decided to take action. The leader, Robert Catesby, proposed a plan to blow up the King, together with the House of Lords and the House of Commons during the opening of Parliament. The government had inklings about a plot, but the first real warning was an anonymous letter given to Lord Monteagle. Many people think that the letter was written by the Lord’s brother-in-law. The letter said “therfor i would advyse yowe as yowe tender youer lyf to devys some excuse to shift of youer attendance at this parliament.” The person was warning him not to attend the opening ceremony of Parliament. The letter was passed onto the Earl of Salisbury, the king’s most important minister. The Gunpowder Plot website says that the Earl “seemed to treat it very coolly,” because he didn’t want to scare the conspirators into premature flight and an easy escape. The Earl put puzzle pieces together and figured out the plot. On November 4th, Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder were found. Some of the men managed to escape, but were eventually found. All the men involved in the plot were tortured and then killed.

On the 5th of November, families across the UK celebrate the failed attempt to wipe out the government. Families and friends get together, to sit around the bonfire and eat warming foods like baked potatoes and sausages. Fireworks are lit to symbolize the gunpowder, and toffee apples are eaten to symbolize the food at the celebration. The children gather together to make an effigy of Guy Fawkes, and then watch as he burns on the bonfire and eventually turns into ashes. =

Peta, "Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night."//h2g2. 5 November 1999. BBC. 14 Apr 2009 ];// // **** "The Gunpowder Plot."//Parliament and Treason 1605. 2006. Parliament. 14 Apr 2009 <[|http://www.gunpowderplot.parliament.uk/>]; // **
 * Works Cited