Guy fawkes hero or traitor?

Question

Remember rememeber the fifth of novemeber, gunpowder treason and plot, i see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!

Answer 1

Americans do not seem to know much about other countries so I will give them a brief history lesson.

In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up
the Houses of Parliament. Among them was
Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor.


After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer.

A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.


To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords.

But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. Was the letter real?

The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.

Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.

It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be useless. Since Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying to ignite the powder, we'll never know for certain.

Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster. Nowadays, the Queen and Parliament still observe this tradition.

On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.

Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes' execution or honoring his attempt to do away with the government.

Answer 2

Guy Fawkes Was A Hero

Answer 3

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In theory, he's a traitor, but most people don't care. The majority in England know a vague version of the story but are unaware of most of the details. For example, most think he led the plot and that he was burned (in fact, he was hanged, drawn and quartered for treason. Burning was for crimes against the church). It is mainly an excuse for a bonfire and for fireworks. I've never met anybody that regards him as a hero. Although I remember there was a celebration of him a while back by some extremist Irish Catholics.

Answer 4

For some reason, we all seem to like the idea of putting a bomb under the government, but get horrified when Guy Fawkes & Co or the IRA actually try to do it.

Guy Fawkes was probably set up. As a result of the outcry over the gunpowder plot, the puritan movement came to prominence. A few years later, they murdered the king, abolished parliament and gave us a military dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell who murdered a greater percentage of his country's population than Hitler. So who was the traitor?

Answer 5

He was a traitor to the British (during those days) but today, we admire him for his actions, much like Robin-Hood and few others.Who knows, after another 500 years maybe our descendants would think the same way about Hitler, and his effort to bring Germany to a super-power state after it's defeat at WW1.

Answer 6

Yes

Answer 7

That"s the question for every hero or traitor.
There not many heroes so pure that they have no treacherous element and the other way round too.

Answer 8

had he succeeded and overthrown the parliament and monarch and restored Catholicism then he would probably have been hailed a hero. He failed, therefore he was a traitor.

The victors always get to write the history - they can paint their foes as demons, themsleves as the innocents who did the right thing.

Answer 9

Back in his day he was a traitor but now I guess he is a hero as we celebrate Guy Fawkes night, probably for the wrong reasons

Answer 10

He tried to blow up the houses of parliment. That wud mean people likely to die. In my mind. That make u a traitor. To humanity in general. Taking someone elses life makes u a traitor. For whatever reason. Its not yours to take.