Remember, remember!
    The fifth of November,
    The Gunpowder treason and plot;
    I know of no reason
    Why the Gunpowder treason
    Should ever be forgot!

Those are the first verses of this famous poem composed for what we thematically call nowadays Bonfire Night. A night where we all gather together to watch fireworks and celebrate another year in our glorious city. It is indeed a well known night for anyone in Britain and in pop culture, especially after the success of the movie V for Vendetta. But many have forgotten what happened on November 5th, who was Guy Fawkes and what it was the story of the plot behind it.

Who was Guy Fawkes? Many ask, but some people assume that he was just a catholic terrorist who tried to bomb The Houses of Parliament in London, a radical that wanted to prevent the takeover of the Protestant faith by those in power. Moreless he was not alone in this plot, but all fingers point at him as the sole response for everything. Born in 1570 Stonegate, in York, he was in fact a protestant at the beginning of his life. Working all the way to secure himself a position as a lawyer for the church there. But in fact, he was not influenced by anyone in his family but by an outsider. When his father died when he was 8 years old his mother remarried to another man who was a fervent catholic which influenced his young mind to convert into Catholicism.

But it was not the only influence that Hawkes received, as he spent his time in St. Peter’s School in York. This is where he met two of his fellow conspirators the Wright Brothers, John and Christopher. Which later in their lives were arrested for their involvement in the Earl of Essex Rebellion. So as you can see Fawkes’s path was being led by destiny from such young age. So after finishing school and working under the service of the Montagu Household he would depart for Spain after selling the estate he inherited from his father.

He would be involved in the Spanish Military after that fighting against the Dutch and the English in the following years growing in the ranks of the army till he even managed to get an audience with the king of Spain, asking him for his support to raise a Catholic insurrection against King James I who Fawkes had a massive hatred as he deemed him as a heretic. But this audience with the king would not have any results as the king merely received him out of politeness but was unwilling to give him any support.

But this wouldn’t stop him and others from their ultimate goal of assassinating King James I. As many conspirators were recruited from other failed insurrections, such as we mentioned the Wright Brothers we would include others such as Robert Catesby, a fervent Catholic who dropped out of Oxford just so he would swear the Oath of Supremacy. Robert And Thomas Wintour, both brothers who swore revenge against the protestants for the hanging of their Uncle. Robert Keyes, a man who got all his goods expropriated by the state for being a Catholic. Thomas Bates, who had a “bad streak of luck” by accidentally learning about the plot and being invited afterward. John Grant, a pious and intellectual man that helped a lot of priests when they were persecuted. Ambrose Rookwood, a religious zealot who couldn’t stand the treatment of Catholics. Sir Everard Digby, a converted Protestant who frequented Elizabeth I court and was knighted by James I. And the last member of the group, Francis Tresham who was an active member in the seek of the aid of Spain against England’s Protestants and was imprisoned because of this.

With this band of merry traitors, Guy Fawkes had the confidence that the plot would succeed, meeting frequently in London, they schemed, looking for the perfect opportunity for when they could assassinate the king. They rented a place in Lambeth to store their gunpowder and other supplies, as it was close enough and it wouldn’t raise too many suspicions. But their plan was delayed as the Parliament would remain closed as the plague was still rampant in the city, but this wouldn’t slow their efforts as it was alleged that they were digging a tunnel underneath it.

Their plan was simple, moving all the gunpowder to an undercroft beneath the House of Lords, these were old cellars with a lot of space that could be rented for personal use. So slowly Guy Fawkes and Wintour carried the barrels inside the undercroft and were sure that everything was going according to plan. But later on, after Fawkes came back to London, they found out that the gunpowder had decayed so they had to bring more alongside firewood to conceal it. But now without any delay, everything was ready, Guy would ignite the fuse and escape across the Thames, but his conspirators were not that sure to proceed with the plan as many of their relatives, employers and patrons would attend that day.

So much that in fact one of his conspirators betrayed him, sending a crucial letter to William Parker, that revealed that something would happen to him if he attended parliament at that session, this quickly prompted him to action as he handled the letter to Earl of Salisbury. This would start a chain of events that would lead the letter to the hands of the King himself. After investigating the letter, the King quickly noticed that the plot was an attempt to blow up the building with him inside. This would trigger the search for the gunpowder that was stored underneath meanwhile the conspirators were oblivious about how their plans were foiled by a traitor.

So the plan continued, as Fawkes was almost discovered when he was checking the undercroft as he pretended that the firewood was there for his master, Thomas Percy. But the mention of his name rose even more suspicions and the king was not having it ordering the soldiers to return to inspect the cellar once more. So in the cover of the night, the king’s men went back to the undercroft to find Fawkes again who was really close to initiating the plot, but they managed to stop him, finding in his possession all that he needed to initiate the gunpowder. With the news of his arrest, his co-conspirators quickly fled the city, regrouping soon after they left the city way behind.

But their efforts wouldn’t last long as the authorities would continue their investigation and soon after there were warrants for them and their closed ones. Desperate, they raided Warwick Castle for supplies and continued their journey only to be captured and sent back to London where they faced justice ending up their lives in the hanger alongside Hawkes.

So this is how the king survived the plot and we can still enjoy The Houses of Parliament. Do not forget to visit the regular tours around London that teach you more about the story of the plot but also the Houses of Parliament itself were you can check on the very same undercroft that was used by the plotters.

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