BBC_History_-_The_Life_amp_amp_Times_Of_The_Stuarts_2016_

establishment: the royal family, the MPs, the
lords and the leading bishops. Guy Fawkes, a
Catholic volunteer who had been fighting in
the Low Countries, was the man selected to
prepare the gunpowder and light the fuse.
The plotters rented a cellar below the
Palace of Westminster and filled it with
gunpowder, ready for the state opening
of parliament on 5 November 1605. All
seemed to be going to plan but, with just
over a week to go, Lord Monteagle received
his tip-off. Armed with this information,
Robert Cecil liaised with King James who
suggested that the cellars under Westminster
be searched. On the night of 4–5 November,
Fawkes was apprehended caught red-
handed alongside 36 barrels of gunpowder.
Despite Fawkes’s arrest, Catesby opted
to incite an armed insurrection in the

Midlands, but found few willing to support

his cause. The rebel leader was gunned

down alongside a few of his remaining

supporters on 8 November. Those who

weren’t killed were despatched to the Tower

of London where they, alongside Fawkes,

were brutally executed in January 1606.

The Gunpowder Plot had failed utterly,

to the delight of the Protestant English. On

5 November, bonfires were lit in celebration,

a practice that continues to this day. For the

Catholic minority, the attempt at mass

murder had disastrous consequences. “The

long-term contribution of the gunpowder

plot was to provide another reason for

Protestants to dislike and be scared of

Catholics,” explains James Sharpe, author of

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

(Profile, 2005). “Protestant propaganda had

for a long time been saying ‘the Catholics

are out to get us’ and the Gunpowder Plot

just demonstrated that.”

King James responded to the attempt

on his life relatively calmly, without the

bloody reprisals that might have been

expected. Nevertheless, the Gunpowder

Plot did lead to a worsening of Catholic/

Protestant relations, which were not

normalised until the 19th century. The

celebrations of 5 November became not just

a commemoration of lives preserved, but

also an opportunity to vent anti-Catholic

feelings. As much as anything else, it was

England’s deliverance from Catholics that

the revellers chose to remember.

Historical advisor: Professor James Sharpe,

University of York

Remember, remember the Fifth of

November: the stage was set for an

explosive start to parliament in 1605