Knyvett had uncovered an astonishing conspiracy to blow up the members of both Houses of Parliament, the king, most of the royal family, and leading officers of state.
Arrested and tortured, John Johnson revealed that he was from Yorkshire in northern England and that his real name was Guy Fawkes. He was one of several Catholic conspirators in what became known as the Gunpowder Plot. While not the ringleader himself, Fawkes became the best known member of the most famous conspiracy in English history. His capture has been illustrated in countless schoolbooks, novels, popular works of history, and movies: a tall, bearded figure in boots, dark cloak, and dark, wide-brimmed hat.
It is his figure that is still burned in effigy on bonfires around England every year on November 5. To understand the motivations of the man arrested that November night more than years ago, however, it is necessary to examine an England and a Europe different from today.
Fawkes and his fellow conspirators attempted to mount a terrorist attack on their own king and government because of religious upheavals occurring half a century before. The political and religious instability unleashed by the Reformation had resulted in pitting Catholics against Protestants throughout Europe. In England religious strife resulted in the accession of Elizabeth I in The monarch was at its head, although it retained bishops, along with the traditional church courts and some pre-Reformation ceremonial practices.
Many English Catholics refused to accept the settlement. In this period it was generally accepted in Europe that all subjects of a state should adhere to its official form of Christianity. To achieve this religious uniformity, the Elizabethan regime forbade Catholic worship, including performance of baptisms, marriages, and funerals. Being a practicing Catholic was punishable by law. Fines, which could be very heavy for habitual offenders, were imposed on those refusing to attend Church of England services.
Printing or importing Catholic books became high treason. Foreign-trained English Catholic priests who entered England were declared traitors, as were those who helped, housed, or hid them. All men taking administrative office, from members of Parliament to schoolteachers, had to swear an oath denying the power of the pope and recognizing Elizabeth as head of the church.
Elsewhere, England was involved in constant warfare in Ireland, which was populated by Catholics. English Protestant propaganda stressed atrocities committed in the name of Catholicism. By the close of the 16th century the Spanish Armada—dispatched in by Philip II of Spain, and defeated by Elizabeth—was still a fresh memory, along with its mission to reimpose Catholicism in England.
Religion also dominated the situation on the other side of the English Channel. Farther north, the Protestant Dutch Republic was embroiled in a bitter conflict with Spain. The sack of Antwerp by Spanish troops in provided English Protestants with another example of Catholic cruelty. Even Spanish agents expressed doubts about stirring up a Catholic uprising in England now that James had taken the throne. International relations took a more placid turn as well. At the signing of the Treaty of London of , England agreed to end aid to the Protestant Dutch, and Spain agreed to give no military assistance to English Catholics.
English Catholicism was characterized by gentry leadership, which often had both sufficient influence and money. Who was Guy Fawkes? Born: c. April in York Advertisement. On 4 November , Guy Fawkes was caught guarding gunpowder in a cellar beneath the Houses of Parliament. Want to learn more about the Gunpowder Plot? Here are some of our most popular articles… Remember remember the 5th of November : read more about how Bonfire Night evolved from plot to party What if the Gunpowder Plot had succeeded?
Dr John Cooper explores what might have happened next Gunpowder treason and plot : read more about the places associated with the plot to blow up Parliament.
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