8-3GuyFawkes

**Who is Guy Fawkes? What is his Legacy? //Prepared by Riley P.// ** Guy Fawkes will forever be known as one of the most infamous criminals in European History. His famous involvement in the Gunpowder Plot has given him an immortal legacy. Born to a prominent Yorkshire family in 1570, he attended St Peter’s School as a young boy. It was there that he faced a strong Catholic influence and was converted into a devout “very zealous” Catholic as Antonia Fraser put it in her book __Faith and Treason__. He became so disgusted with the Protestant ways of Britain he enlisted in the Spanish army where Guy was able to practice his faith freely. The webpage “The History of the Plot” explains that Fawkes won a reputation of “great courage and cool determination” while fighting for the Spanish. These features appealed very much to Robert Catesby and his band of conspirators who were plotting to commit some violent act as a form of protest for England’s suppression of Catholicism. They needed some one with military experience and boldness, both of which Guy Fawkes possessed. In April of 1604, Fawkes was recruited into their band and they began plotting. Violence was warranted according to leader Catesby and there was no better way to kill those who had made life miserable for Roman Catholics than to blow up the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster or the Houses of Parliament in what became known as the “Gunpowder Plot”. They rented a cellar beneath the house and packed it full with thirty-six barrels or 1800 lbs of gunpowder. Fawkes valiantly volunteered himself to be the one to ignite the gunpowder blowing up Parliament and himself in the process. However, an anonymous warning letter had been sent to Lord Monteagle, one of the men who would be inside the Parliament building, and he initiated a search of the vaults uncovering the gunpowder but did not move it in order to convince the conspirators they had not been discovered. Guy Fawkes continued the plan and was seized by Peter Heywood as he made an attempt to ignite the powder. Fawkes was tortured brutally at the Tower of London but would not divulge his fellow schemers. However, upon learning they had turned themselves in, he finally relented and gave only the names of those who were known to authorities. Guy and the others were found guilty and were hanged, drawn, and quartered, a very brutal form of execution. To this day, Guy Fawkes carries a great legacy in England. On the 5th of November, the date of the failed attempt to blow up Parliament, people all across the U.K. celebrate “Bonfire Night.” According to the webpage “Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night”, children make “life-sized effigies of Guy Fawkes which are called Guys, to put onto the bonfires.” The tradition of burning effigies to mark Guy Fawkes' treason has been around for almost 400 years. Tremendous firework displays entertain thousands who “admire the cheek of Guy Fawkes, trying to blow up Parliament, rather than celebrating the fact that his plot failed and he was caught!” One of the greatest traitors in England’s extensive and rich history, Guy Fawkes will certainly always be remembered for what he did on the fifth of November. **Works Cited** "BBC - h2g2 - Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night." BBC - Homepage. 16 Apr. 2009 . Fraser, Antonia. Faith and treason the story of the Gunpowder Plot. New York: Doubleday, 1996. "The History of the Plot." The Gunpowder Plot Society. 16 Apr. 2009 .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBVrPurrqCw BBC special on the Gunpowder Plot.