Happy Bonfire Night! The History of Bonfire Night: The Gunpowder Conspiracy of 1605 was a plan to kill King James I of England and VI of Scotland. Other names for the plot are The Powder Treason or The Gunpowder Plot.[1] A group of Catholics wanted to blow up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening on 5 November 1605. This would have killed the king, and most of the Protestant aristocracy. Guy Fawkes was left in charge of executing the plot, while the other conspirators fled to Dunchurch in Warwickshire to await news. Once Parliament had been destroyed, the other conspirators planned to start a revolt in the Midlands. During the preparation, several of the conspirators had been concerned about the safety of fellow Catholics who would be present in Parliament on the day of the planned explosion.[7] On the evening of Friday, 26 October Lord Monteagle received an anonymous letter while at his house in Hoxton. My lord out of the love I bare to some of youre friends I have a care of your preseruasion therefore I would advise you as you tender your life to devise some excuse to shift of your attendance at this parliament for god and man hath concurred to punish the wickedness of this time and think not slightly of this advertisement but retire youre self into youre control where you may expect the event in saftey for though there be no appearance of any stir yet i say they shall receive a terrible blow this parliament and yet they shall not see who hurts them this councel is not to be condemned because it may do you good and can do you no harm for the danger is passed as soon as you have burnt the letter and I hope god will give you the grace to make good use of it to whose holy protection I commend you. Monteagle had the note read out loud, possibly to warn the plotters that the secret was out, and promptly handed it over to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, the Secretary of State.[8] The conspirators learned of the letter the following day, but decided to go ahead with their plan, especially after Fawkes inspected the undercroft and found that nothing had been touched. Having been shown the letter, the King ordered Sir Thomas Knyvet to conduct a search of the cellars underneath Parliament, which he did in the early hours of 5 November. Shortly after midnight, Fawkes was found leaving the cellar the conspirators had rented and was arrested, giving his name as John Johnson. Inside, the barrels of gunpowder were discovered hidden under piles of firewood and coal.[9] Far from denying his intentions during the arrest, Fawkes stated that it had been his purpose to destroy the King and the Parliament.[10] Nevertheless, Fawkes maintained his false identity and continued to insist that he was acting alone. Later in the morning, before noon, he was again interrogated. He was questioned on the nature of his accomplices, the involvement of Thomas Percy, what letters he had received from overseas and whether or not he had spoken with Hugh Owen.
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