guy fawkes

These pages are from the confessions of Guy Fawkes. Fawkes is the most well known of the men who planned to blow up King James I and the Parliament in 1605.

In the years after England split away from the Catholic Church, most English monarchs were not very tolerant of Catholics living in England. James I was a Protestant king and English Catholics despaired of any return to the old religion. A small group decided to blow up both King and Parliament with gunpowder. They planned to place James' daughter Elizabeth on the throne. They hoped she would marry a Catholic prince and England would once again be a Catholic country.

The king's spies discovered the plot. Fawkes was found in the early hours of 4th November 1605 in the cellars under the Palace of Westminster, where Parliament was due to meet. He had 20 barrels of gunpowder. On the following days, he confessed to the plot and named the others involved.

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'.

Fawkes and the other plotters were executed on 30th and 31st January 1606. Ever since then, every 5th of November there have been firework displays and bonfires to remember the 'Gunpowder Plot'.

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