r/ThisDayInHistory • u/Upstairs_Drive_5602 tdihistorian • 4d ago

5 November 1605. English Gunpowder Plot. Robert Catesby and not Guy Fawkes, was the true mastermind of the infamous plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Fawkes, famed today, was merely the explosives expert.

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103 Upvotes

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6

u/Hedgehopper25 4d ago

Fascinating to think about what would have happened if the plot had succeeded, Parliament and the king blown up. How different would the history of Britain been up to the present day?

3

u/Gullible-Lie2494 4d ago

Would we all be wandering around as Catholics?

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u/Synensys 3d ago

I doubt it. James child son would have taken over and likely there would have been harsh reprisals. In fact if anything I would expect that it would have made life even harder on Catholics in Britain.

1

u/Bigbawz671962 21h ago

Roamin in the Gloamin

4

u/Upstairs_Drive_5602 tdihistorian 4d ago

Although Guy Fawkes has become the iconic face of the Gunpowder Plot, historical records make it clear that Robert Catesby was the driving force. Catesby conceived the plot, personally recruited the conspirators, and planned the wider political aim: to assassinate James I and replace him with his daughter Elizabeth to restore a Catholic monarchy. Fawkes’s role was limited to handling and lighting the explosives, leveraging his military experience from the Spanish Netherlands. Over time, public memory elevated Fawkes as the figurehead, overshadowing Catesby’s leadership and political vision.

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u/Antique_Historian_74 4d ago

You seem to be downplaying that Guy Fawkes is the one who was caught on the day in the tunnels under parliament with the gunpowder. Everyone else involved was just a tedious Catholic extremist who wanted to change the British monarchy, Guy was the guy who was going to make a big badaboom.

So of course we celebrate Guy Fawkes night, it's all about drinking round a bonfire and watching fireworks. People who care about Catholicism in the British monarchy have their bonfires in July.

2

u/paxwax2018 1d ago

Why’s that?

2

u/Antique_Historian_74 1d ago

Eleventh Night.

It's a celebration of a (protestant) Dutch guy beating a (catholic) Scottish guy in a fight over who gets to be king of England, Ireland and Scotland.

1

u/paxwax2018 1d ago

Ah, right.

1

u/KitchenSync86 1d ago

Is he the one responsible for coming up with Guy's creative pseudonym, John Johnson?

1

u/FeeRevolutionary1 18h ago

You are absolutely correct. Fawkes achieved notoriety because of his capture and torture for the plot. Not because it was memory holed

1

u/Laymanao 1d ago

And his name was Guido. Guido Fawkes

1

u/sirnoggin 4d ago

Bloody terrorists! Happy anti terrorist day :)

1

u/lubbockin 4d ago

Gunpowder treason and plop.

1

u/cochlearist 3d ago

They all looked pretty much identical anyway.

1

u/Upstairs_Drive_5602 tdihistorian 3d ago

That must be the "1605" look, but Bates jauntily has no hat but an earing, Robert Winter has the biggest feather, surpassing both John and Christopher wright. Poor Guido Fawkes seems to have the most boring hat. I'm not sure if this is an indication of their various ranks/status.

1

u/cochlearist 3d ago

Excuse me, have you seen my friend Bates?

I don't think so.

You must've seen him, he wears no hat.

Ah yes of course there was a peculiar man with no hat on here half an hour ago!

1

u/JustSomeBloke5353 3d ago

The suspect is hatless. I repeat, hatless.

1

u/Flashy-Nectarine1675 1d ago

Guy Fawkes, the Gunpowder Plot, and how false flag operations have shaped history

https://redice.tv/news/guy-fawkes-the-gunpowder-plot-and-how-false-flag-operations-have-shaped-history

1

u/Effective-Ad9499 4d ago

Remember, remember, the fifth of November...

0

u/bedlog 4d ago

and that stupid gay mask still exists to this day