| Guy Fawkes and The Gunpowder Plot | ||
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Have you ever wondered why we have Bonfire Night? Why do some people still make a "guy" out of old clothes and burn him on the bonfire? And why do we always have fireworks on 5th November? The reason goes back nearly 400 years to a part of history called The Gunpowder Plot. |
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 Guy Fawkes |
There had been
many many years of fighting between the Catholics and the Protestants.
The Catholics regarded the Pope (in Rome) as the head of their Church,
but the Protestants said that the head of the English Church was the
King of England. By the time that James I, a Protestant, became King,
the Catholics had been treated very badly and were getting very fed up!
A Catholic called Robert Catesby decided to do something about it. He brought five men together and told them his secret plan. One of the men was Guy Fawkes. |
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| The
Plot Catesby wanted to get rid of the King and his Parliament. He decided to blow them up with gunpowder! In early November, the members of Parliament were going to meet together and the King would be there too, so Catesby and the other men decided that this would be a good opportunity. They rented a house next door to the Parliament buildings, and started to dig a tunnel underneath to get to the cellars! This took a very long time and was very hard work. Later they found a cellar underneath the Parliament buildings which they could rent. Much easier! They moved the gunpowder into the cellar. More Catholics joined the plotters, but as more men heard about the plot, it became harder to keep it secret. Eventually, someone sent a warning letter to one of the Members of Parliament and the plot was discovered! |
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| Soldiers
were sent to the rented house and the cellars and found the
gunpowder. They also found Guy Fawkes, waiting with matches ready
to light the fuse which would make the gunpowder explode. He was
arrested and horribly
tortured to make him tell who else was involved. All the plotters were
found guilty of treason and executed.
The Members of Parliament were very pleased that they had not been blown up! They made a law that 5th November would be a day of thanksgiving and celebration. So that is why we have bonfires and fireworks on "bonfire night"!
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The plotters