Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Guy Fawkes was a key member of a radical group of English Roman Catholics who attempted to kill King James I in what became known as the Gunpowder Plot. Though the plot failed, it led to further decline in the status of Catholics in England and fed Protestant belief that God was protecting the country. Fawkes was born in York to Protestant parents but converted to Catholicism while still in school, likely due to the influence of his stepfather and schoolmates. While in his early twenties, Fawkes went abroad to fight with the Spanish army in the Netherlands. Allowed to practice his religion freely, he gained a reputation as a devout Catholic and an able soldier. He visited Spain during these years and asked for Spanish military intervention to assist the suffering Catholics in England. When such aid was not forthcoming, Fawkes returned to England and learned of a plot developed by English Catholics to establish their religion in the country. In May 1604 Fawkes and others met in London with Robert Catesby, who had developed the plan now known as the Gunpowder Plot. The plot aimed to blow up the Houses of Parliament, killing the king and members of Parliament, thereby destroying the existing government and allowing it to be replaced with a Catholic regime. Fawkes offered his assistance and became a central figure in the preparations. By late fall 1605 the conspirators had built a stock ... log in or subscribe to read full text