Gun Powder Plot History (lectura con ejercicios)

• BEFORE READING: VOCABULARY

Can you define these words?

A traitor is _________________________

A plot to kill someone is ______________________

Gunpowder is ________________________

A conspiracy is _________________________

A conspirator is _________________________

THE GUN POWDER PLOT AND GUY FAWKES

The history and story of the Gunpowder Plot is a very complex one and was basically the culmination of fifty years or more of religous strife between the English Protestant Church and the old Roman Catholic Church under Pope Paul IV + Pope Paul V.

The history that follows is as basic as I can get it if records are to be believed, The whole truth and nothing but the truth of the Gunpowder Plot will never be known, no more than Princess Diana`s Death!

The position of Roman Catholics in England at the start of the seventeenth century was an unenviable one. The enormous upheavals of the Reformation, pioneered by King Henry VIII for his own marital purposes, the burning of the Protestant Martyrs had exposed them not simply to persecution, but to charges that through their loyalty to the Pope in Rome they were potential traitors.

No wonder a plan of sorts was concieved and like any other story , the truth gets mixed up as it filters through the crowd and remember back then , the public were very scared of authorities and the church and were very gullible . I have my own views of which I will put on here one day once I have done some more reseach . What follows is probably the most accurate to what most writers write of the planned events for the 5th November .

When King James VI of Scotland became James I of England in 1603, there seemed to be some hope of religious toleration. However, within only two years, these hopes had faded and a desperate plot involving wholesale murder was hatched: The Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

The conspirators who hatched the Gunpowder Plot, or Powder Treason - Robert Catesby, their leader, Thomas Winter, brothers John and Christopher Wright, their brother-in-law Thomas Percy, Francis Gresham, Guy Fawkes and about eight others - were all said to be devout Roman Catholics, but even more important, they were desperate (For What?)

When King James VI of Scotland became James I of England in 1603, there seemed to be a chance for a greater measure of religious tolerance. The penal laws against Catholics were, in fact, relaxed in the first years of James's reign. As more Catholics emerged the king took fright and the laws were reimposed.

Guy Fawkes, one of the conspirators of the gun powder plot, was according to many history books caught red-handed guarding several barrels of gunpowder. The leader of the conspiracy however, was not Guy Fawkes but Robert Catesby. Although Guy Fawkes endured hours of torture on the rack he refused to incriminate anyone else. The conspirators confessed under torture and were tried for treason.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT

Catholic anger and frustration was immense and, in 1605, it led to an extremely ambitious, though possible, conspiracy to blow up parliament at the Palace of Westminster on 5th November, when the king, his queen, his heir, his ministers and MPs were all gathered inside .At one stroke, therefore, the government would be wiped out and the resulting confusion would enable the Catholics to take over England.

KING JAMES I AND HIS WIFE ( QUEEN ) ANNE OF DENMARK. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT PLAN

The actual plan was quite simple. In the spring of 1605, the conspirators rented a cellar that, very conveniently, featured an extension leading right under the Palace of Westminster. There they stored around 20 barrels of gunpowder, for use when parliament met, and went their separate ways.

Eight of the plotters involved in what has become perhaps the most famous attack on the Church and parliament in history: the ambitious, but ill-fated, Gunpowder Plot. Their leader, Robert Catesby is shown here (7) next to Guy Fawkes (6).

The Gun powder plot had important flaws, however. Firstly, some of the conspirators were already known to the authorities as troublemakers. Nine years earlier, in 1596, Catesby, together with John and Christopher Wright, had been arrested as a precaution when the childless Queen Elizabeth I fell ill . If she died, problems over the succession to the throne might easily have led to violence and upheaval. Elizabeth recovered and the three men were released, but suspicions that they meant potential trouble were not easy to dismiss.

The cardinal weakness in the conspiracy lay, however, with Francis Gresham: his brother-in-law, Lord Monteagle, was an MP and was likely to die in the gunpowder plot explosion. Family loyalties won out over Catholic convictions and Gresham effectively revealed all when he told Monteagle not to attend parliament on 5th November.

Monteagle alerted the authorities and the basement of the Palace of Westminster was searched on the night of 4th November. Unfortunately for the plotters, Guy Fawkes was discovered with the gunpowder in the cellar. He was tortured, a routine form of information-gathering at the time, but refused to reveal the names of his co-conspirators.

The Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Plot Confession ?

Guy Fawkes signed 2 confessions ???... One after torture and another 8 days later. The contrast between them is remarkable. The first document shown here is a page from his confession under torture. His weak and shaky signature 'Guido' can faintly be made out. The second document is from a confession signed later in a steadier hand 'Guido Fawkes'.

THE TRAITORS DEATHS

Catesby, John and Christopher Wright and Thomas Percy, with ten other plotters, managed to get away from London, but were pursued for four days until they were cornered at Holbeach in Lincolnshire. In the ensuing skirmish, Catesby, Percy and the Wrights were fatally wounded.

The others were tried for treason and, in 1606, suffered the gruesome death, reserved for traitors: hanging, drawing and quartering. Afterwards an Act of Parliament was passed on January 21st 1606 (3 James I, cap 1), to appoint 5th November in each year as a day of thanksgiving for 'the joyful day of deliverance'. This was by bell ringing, bonfires and etc. The celebrations continue to this day.

• AFTER READING: TRUE OR FALSE?

1) The English Protestant Church and the Roman Catholic Church were in conflict for more than half a century.

2) The Roman Catholics in England were well treated by the authorities.

3) The events of the Gunpowder Plot are not clear to everyone.

4) The conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot were all from different families.

5) The laws against Catholics were made stricter at first by King James I.

6) Guy Fawkes was the leader of the conspiracy.

7) The Catholics hoped to rule England by destroying the parliament.

8) The conspirators stayed together after planting the explosives.

9) The authorities already knew the identity of all the conspirators.

10) The main reason the conspiracy failed was due to family loyalties.

11) Guy Fawkes gave the names of all the other conspirators after being tortured.

12) Torture was rarely used to get information from people at this time.

13) All the conspirators were executed.

• CAN YOU EXPLAIN THESE WORDS?

1) Religious strife

2) The enormous upheavals of the Reformation

3) The public were very gullible

4) These hopes had faded

5) The conspirators who hatched the Gunpowder Plot

6) devout Roman Catholics

7) The king took fright

8) caught red-handed

9) the conspirators were tried for treason

10) to blow up parliament

11) his heir

12) the government would be wiped out

13) to take over England

14) the ill-fated plot

15) The plot had important flaws

16) his weak and shaky signature can faintly be made out

17) they were cornered

18) in the ensuing skirmish

19) were fatally wounded

20) a gruesome death

• DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Were the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot justified in their action? If yes, why? If no, why not?
2. Has there ever been religious conflict in your country’s history? What other types of conflict have there been?
3. Are any similar historical events to the Gunpowder Plot celebrated in your country? How are they celebrated?