GUY FAWKES NIGHT

Guy Fawkes Night is a British festivity. It takes place on 5 November.

 

Who was Guy Fawkes?

           

            The Roman Catholic Church was the most important form of the Christian religion in England from the eighth century. The leader was the Pope, in Rome. But in 1534 the situation changed. King Henry VIII of England wanted to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, because she could not have children, and marry another woman, Anne Boleyn. The Catholic Church did not permit this, so Henry VIII left the Roman Catholic Church and started the Church of England, with himself as its leader.

            In 1605 the King – and leader of the Church of England – was James I. He passed laws against Roman Catholics: they had to pay a lot of money if they did not go to Church of England religious services. A group of Catholics planned to blow up Parliament in London on 5 November 1605, when the King was present. This plan was called the Gunpowder Plot.

           The leader of the plot was Robert Catesby. He and the others put thirty-six barrels of explosives under the Palace of Westminster. Guy Fawkes stayed there and waited to light the fuse. But because of an anonymous letter the King’s soldiers discovered the plot. They searched the Palace of Westminster and found Guy Fawkes with the explosives. They took him to the Tower of London. They wanted the names of the other men, but Fawkes did not speak. They then took Fawkes to King James I, but he still did not speak. Finally, they tortured him, and he told them everything. Soldiers went to arrest the other men, and killed some when they tried to escape. On 30 and 31 January 1606, they hanged Guy Fawkes and another seven men from the plot.

 

Celebrating Guy Fawkes Night.

          

          On the evening of 5 November there are fireworks and bonfires. Guy Fawkes Night is also called Bonfire Night. Children often make a ‘guy’. This is a model of Guy Fawkes. They use old clothes and fill them with newspaper, and they make a head and draw a face on it. They put the ‘guy’ on the bonfire and burn it. Some people have bonfires in their gardens. But many people buy tickets and go to a public bonfire and firework display in their town or city. Children love the noise and the excitement. On Bonfire Night in Lewes, Sussex, in south-east England, people wear historical costumes from the time of the Gunpowder Plot.