Post by hs4bush04 on Nov 5, 2004 8:19:01 GMT -5
November 5
THE GUNPOWDER PLOT:
November 5, 1605
Early in the morning, King James I of England learns that a plot to
explode the Parliament building has been foiled, hours before he was
scheduled to sit with the rest of the British government in a general
parliamentary session.
At about midnight on the night of November 4-5, Sir Thomas Knyvet, a
justice of the peace, found Guy Fawkes lurking in a cellar under the
Parliament building and ordered the premises searched. Some 20 barrels
of gunpowder were found, and Fawkes was taken into custody. During a
torture session on the rack, Fawkes revealed that he was a participant
in an English Catholic conspiracy to annihilate England's Protestant
government and replace it with Catholic leadership.
What became known as the Gunpowder Plot was organized by Robert
Catesby, an English Catholic whose father had been persecuted by Queen
Elizabeth I for refusing to conform to the Church of England. Guy
Fawkes had converted to Catholicism, and his religious zeal led him to
fight in the Spanish army in the Netherlands. Catesby and the handful
of other plotters rented a cellar that extended under Parliament, and
Fawkes planted the gunpowder there, hiding the barrels under coal and
wood.
As the November 5 meeting of Parliament approached, Catesby enlisted
more English Catholics into the conspiracy, and one of these, Francis
Tresham, warned his Catholic brother-in-law Lord Monteagle not to
attend Parliament that day. Monteagle alerted the government, and
hours before the attack was to have taken place Fawkes and the
explosives were found. By torturing Fawkes, King James' government
learned of the identities of his co-conspirators. During the next few
weeks, English authorities killed or captured all the plotters and put
the survivors on trial, along with a few innocent English Catholics.
Guy Fawkes himself was sentenced, along with the other surviving chief
conspirators, to be hanged, drawn, and quartered in London. Moments
before the start of his gruesome execution, on January 31, 1606, he
jumped from a ladder while climbing to the hanging platform, breaking
his neck and dying instantly.
In 1606, Parliament established November 5 as a day of public
thanksgiving. Today, Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated across Great Britain
every year on November 5 in remembrance of the Gunpowder Plot. As dusk
falls, villagers and city dwellers across Britain light bonfires, set
off fireworks, and burn effigies of Guy Fawkes, celebrating his
failure to blow Parliament and James I to kingdom come.
History Channel
THE GUNPOWDER PLOT:
November 5, 1605
Early in the morning, King James I of England learns that a plot to
explode the Parliament building has been foiled, hours before he was
scheduled to sit with the rest of the British government in a general
parliamentary session.
At about midnight on the night of November 4-5, Sir Thomas Knyvet, a
justice of the peace, found Guy Fawkes lurking in a cellar under the
Parliament building and ordered the premises searched. Some 20 barrels
of gunpowder were found, and Fawkes was taken into custody. During a
torture session on the rack, Fawkes revealed that he was a participant
in an English Catholic conspiracy to annihilate England's Protestant
government and replace it with Catholic leadership.
What became known as the Gunpowder Plot was organized by Robert
Catesby, an English Catholic whose father had been persecuted by Queen
Elizabeth I for refusing to conform to the Church of England. Guy
Fawkes had converted to Catholicism, and his religious zeal led him to
fight in the Spanish army in the Netherlands. Catesby and the handful
of other plotters rented a cellar that extended under Parliament, and
Fawkes planted the gunpowder there, hiding the barrels under coal and
wood.
As the November 5 meeting of Parliament approached, Catesby enlisted
more English Catholics into the conspiracy, and one of these, Francis
Tresham, warned his Catholic brother-in-law Lord Monteagle not to
attend Parliament that day. Monteagle alerted the government, and
hours before the attack was to have taken place Fawkes and the
explosives were found. By torturing Fawkes, King James' government
learned of the identities of his co-conspirators. During the next few
weeks, English authorities killed or captured all the plotters and put
the survivors on trial, along with a few innocent English Catholics.
Guy Fawkes himself was sentenced, along with the other surviving chief
conspirators, to be hanged, drawn, and quartered in London. Moments
before the start of his gruesome execution, on January 31, 1606, he
jumped from a ladder while climbing to the hanging platform, breaking
his neck and dying instantly.
In 1606, Parliament established November 5 as a day of public
thanksgiving. Today, Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated across Great Britain
every year on November 5 in remembrance of the Gunpowder Plot. As dusk
falls, villagers and city dwellers across Britain light bonfires, set
off fireworks, and burn effigies of Guy Fawkes, celebrating his
failure to blow Parliament and James I to kingdom come.
History Channel
