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Flat Figures Painters Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: Brian on November 05, 2018, 05:30:33 AM

Title: Guy fawkes
Post by: Brian on November 05, 2018, 05:30:33 AM

Well the 5th of November is when we remember the gunpowder plot of 1605 
 
It was while on campaign fighting for Spain in Flanders that Fawkes was approached by Thomas Wintour, one of the plotters, and asked to join what would become known as the Gunpowder Plot, under the leadership of Robert Catesby.
His expertise with gunpowder gave him a key - and very perilous - role in the conspiracy, to source and ignite the explosive. But 18 months of careful planning was foiled with just hours to go, when he was arrested at midnight on 4 November 1605 beneath the House of Lords. Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were found stacked in the cellar directly below where the king would have been sitting for the opening of parliament the next day.
The foiling of the plot had been expertly engineered by James I's spymaster, Robert Cecil. Fawkes was subjected to various tortures, including the rack. Torture was technically illegal, and James I was personally required to give a licence for Fawkes to endure its ravages.
While just the threat of torture was enough to break the resolve of many, Fawkes withstood two days of the most terrible pain before he confessed all. Famously, his signature on his confession was that of a shattered and broken man, the ill-formed letters telling the story of a someone who was barely able to hold a quill. His fortitude throughout had impressed James I, who said he admired Fawkes' "Roman resolution".
Fawkes was sentenced to the traditional traitors' death - to be 'hanged, drawn and quartered'. In the event, he jumped from the gallows, breaking his own neck and thereby avoiding the horror of being cut down while still alive, having his testicles cut off and his stomach opened and his guts spilled before his eyes. His lifeless body was hacked into quarters and his remains sent to "the four corners of the kingdom" as a warning to others.
On 5 November every year, the effigy of Guy Fawkes is still burned on bonfires across England in recognition of his part in the failed 'Gunpowder Plot' of 1605.
[/size[/color]ead the plot to assassinate James I, so why is he still singled out as one of British history's greatest villains more than 400 years after his death?
Fawkes didn't devise or lead the plot to assassinate James I, so why is he still singled out as one of British history's greatest villains more than 400 years after his death?
On 5 November every year, the effigy of Guy Fawkes is still burned on bonfires across England in recognition of his part in the failed 'Gunpowder Plot' of 1605.
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Fawkes didn't devise or lead the plot to assassinate James I, so why is he still singled out as one of British history's greatest villains more than 400 years after his death?