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Gunpowder treason and plot …

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England at the time of Elizabeth I

London

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The queens and kings of England

Mary Tudor 1553-1558,aka “Bloody Mary”

• She was a Catholic and her husband was the king of Spain.• During her reign, Protestants were persecuted: some were imprisoned, tortured, hanged or burnt to death.

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English Protestants

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The queens and kings of England

Elizabeth I 1558-1603

• She was a Protestant queen. Now it was the turn of Catholics to suffer.• The Catholic mass was forbidden and people were fined if they did not attend Protestant services.• Catholics who disobeyed the Law could be jailed or executed for treason.

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The queens and kings of England

James I 1603-1625

• As soon as he came to power, there were attempts to murder him.• King James was a devout Protestant with no time for Catholic or Puritan ideas.• He was a very intelligent but unpopular king.

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Catholic “recusants” [= réfractaires]

It was a crime to hear or to say Catholic prayers or masses.

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Catholic “recusants”

The King’s soldiers would even enter private homes to harass or arrest Catholics.

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Catholic “recusants”

Churches were destroyed, and valuable objects taken.

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Catholics and Protestants in Europe

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Who was he?

Guy Fawkes was a devout Catholic.

In his 20s Guy left England to join the king of Spain’s army in the Netherlands.

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Guy Fawkes’s life

Fawkes grew up in York

Fawkes was a soldier in Spanish Flanders

Conspiration in London

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A soldier of fortune

When the Spanish attacked fortified towns they used cannons and gunpowder to break down the walls. Guy Fawkes soon became an expert soldier, especially at manipulating gunpowder.

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A secret mission

But Guy or Guido as he was then called never forgot his Catholic friends in England.

• One of his Catholic friends came to visit him in the Netherlands. • This friend Thomas Wintour told Guido about a plot to assassinate king James I.• Guy knew many of the other plotters as he had been to school with them.• Guido finally returned to England to join the conspiracy.

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The plottersThe plotters

There were 13 plotters in all.

Guy Fawkes Thomas Wintour

Arba7

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The Conspiracy

The plot was to blow up the king, the members of his Parliament and the Lords.

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The Plan

They rented a house near Parliament Hall and stocked the gunpowder in the cellars.

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The Plan

They rowed the gunpowder barrels across the Thames River at night.

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The tunnel in the cellar

… they dug a tunnel from their house cellar to the cellars under Parliament House.

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All set

Once everything was ready, Guido would light the fuse to blow up the barrels.

The plotters waited for the King to open Parliament to give Guido his orders.

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The mysterious letter

But there was a traitor in the group.

An anonymous letter warned the King that a plot to assassinate him was underway.

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The plotters were stopped

Guy Fawkes was arrested by the King’s guards just as he was ready to light the gunpowder barrels.

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Guy Fawkes was arrested

Guy was taken before the King but refused to talk.

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Guy Fawkes was tortured…

Guy Fawkes was brutally tortured for 4 days...

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He finally cracked up…

Guy Fawkes was brutally torured for 4 days ...

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And signed a confession…

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And signed a confession …

His tortures had been so extreme that he could hardly sign his confession.

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Public execution

The other plotters were either arrested or killed. The survivors were sentenced to death with Guy Fawkes.

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Public execution

Executions were public in order to set a terrifying example for any would-be terrorists.

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Public execution

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Public execution

That was how the King made sure his people would learn the lesson.

The terrorists’ heads were stuck onto pikes and displayed on London Bridge.

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How the English reacted

On the night of November the 5th, the King’s supporters celebrated the failure of the Gunpowder Plot.

They lit bonfires and made a model of Guy. Then they threw this dummy into the flames!

Remember! Remember!

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A penny for the guy!

Ever since, children have been going from door to door asking for money to make a dummy of Guy and to buy fireworks.

Remember! Remember!

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Bonfire Night today

Then they make huge bonfires and put the “Guy” on top of the fire.

• The air is filled with smoke, flashes and flames.• You can hear fireworks exploding too.• This reminds people what would have happened if Guy Fawkes had not been found!

Remember! Remember!

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They chant around the fires a very old rhyme:

"Remember, remember, The

5th of November Is

gunpowder treason and plot.

I see no reason,Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot."

Remember! Remember!

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Opening Parliament today

Before any monarch can “open Parliament” tradition asks that special security checks are made…

Remember! Remember!

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Opening Parliament today

… Yeomen of the Guard [= hallebardiers de la garde royale] search the cellars of the Houses of Parliament before the Queen opens Parliament.But the ceremony is kept secret!

Remember! Remember!