The Gunpowder Plot

The Gunpowder Plot
Background
In the mid-16th century England faced the view of being split between Protestants and Catholics.
When Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558 the situation required action and within a year the Act of Uniformity was passed. Everyone had to attend the Church of England service or they could be fined, or worse.
The Queen was the head of the Church of England and every loyal subject was expected to accept and acknowledge that. If you were against the Protestant faith, then you must be against the Queen and the country - a traitor.
Anyone wanting to remain a Roman Catholic was seen as a potential traitor and spy.
At Elizabeth 's death in 1603, there was a hope amongst Catholics that the new ruler, James VI of Scotland

The cellar lay directly underneath the House of Lords (a chamber in the Palace of Westminster where the parliament was going to perform), and over the following months 36 barrels of gunpowder were moved in, enough to blow everything and everyone in the vicinity sky high, if ignited.
In October, with only weeks to go, the final details were planned. Fawkes was to light the fuse and escape to continental Europe. To coincide with the explosion, Digby would go to the Midlands and kidnap King James 's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, ready to install her as a puppet queen. In Europe, Fawkes would be arguing the plotters ' case to continental governments, to secure their passive acceptance, even support.
Discovery
As the conspirators realized that the act could lead to the death of many innocent people and defenders of the Catholic cause, they sent notices to some of them to keep away from the Parliament on the day of the attack. Unfortunately for the conspirators one of the warnings reached the king, who ordered an inspection of the parliament

Would it kill the king? Would the plotters succeed in their plan? Well that’s what I’m going to show you in this clip. Roll it.
Now to give you a perception of the destructive power of that explosion, I have this image.
We are here, these blues circles are about 100 and 200 meters of diameter, no one within 100 meters of the blast would have survived and in the 200 meters people would be fatally or badly injured, the yellow is about 400 meters of diameter, at that distance people would likely be harmed by falling debris.
The Gunpowder Plot in popular culture
Several traditional rhymes have accompanied the Guy Fawkes Night festivities. Being the most common known this one:
Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Since the release in 2006 of the film V for Vendetta, in which the main character in the film, and in the original comic book of the same name, wore a Guy Fawkes mask, the mask has become widespread internationally among anti-establishment protest groups, becoming a well-known symbol for the online hacktivist group