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1606: Just why do we celebrate Bonfire Night?
1606: Just why do we celebrate Bonfire Night?
On November 4th 1606, a traitor was caught beneath the Houses of Parliament with a plot to kill the king. This is the extraordinary story of the Gunpowder Plot from its daring beginning to its grisly end, specially written for young readers who are growing in confidence. With colourful illustrations on every page, a timeline and list of key people.
Guy Fawkes was one of a group of English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He fought for Catholic Spain in the Eighty Years’ War against Protestant Dutch reformers and the later travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England without success. He later met Thomas Wintour and Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James I in order to restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. Guy Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder which was stored underneath parliament.
He was caught and set to die at the Tower of London but broke his neck by falling from the scaffold before he could be hanged. This is the man whose effigy is traditionally burned on a bonfire on November 5th.
Guy Fawkes was born on 13 April 1570 at 25 High Petergate in the shadow of York Minster. He was baptised at the church of St Michael le Belfrey nearby.
Destination/location: London Author/guide: Rob Lloyd Jones Departure Time: 1605
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