The Gunpowder Plot Season 1 | Episode 40
Remember remember the fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot
I see no reason why Guy Fawkes should ever be forgot.
A short rhyme that I,
along with numerous other children growing up in England,
learned in school;
and yet today it seems that many have forgotten the story.
In the early 1600s England was under a Protestant king, King James.
Born in Edinburgh Castle, he ascended to the Scottish throne,
and when the Scottish and English thrones merged in 1603,
he became the King of England as well.
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King James is best known
for the translation of the Bible that is named after him.
Translated over a period of five years and released in 1611,
it is a masterpiece of the English language,
shaping many of the terms and phrases that we use today.
Had the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 been successful,
it is likely that the work of translation would have stopped.
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The crown of England had gone back and forth
between Catholic and Protestant hands in the early to mid-16th century,
but during the reign of Elizabeth I,
some stability had been brought to the throne.
Despite this, it was the dream of Catholics both at home and abroad
to restore a Catholic monarch to the throne.
An audacious plot was launched to assassinate the king,
not by a bullet or by poison,
but by blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening of Parliament,
thus not only killing the king,
but also many of his close advisers and members of Parliament.
It was then the hope of the Catholics
to bring a new monarch and government to England.
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In those days security was not what it is today,
and they were able to rent a space underneath Parliament
which they filled with 36 barrels of gunpowder.
This huge supply of explosives could not be detonated remotely,
and someone had to light it manually,
and that job fell to Guy Fawkes.
Fawkes, born in York,
had worked for several years in the Spanish army as an explosives expert,
and whilst he was not a major player in this plot,
due to the role that he played,
his name is etched in history and he is the one best remembered.
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Up to this point everything had been kept top-secret,
but there was to be a fortunate leak.
Just prior to the 5th of November,
an anonymous letter was sent to William Parker
warning him not to attend Parliament on that day.
Suspicion was aroused and a thorough search of the building took place
whereby they found Guy Fawkes and his stash of gunpowder.
He was taken to the Tower of London
and tortured until he gave up the names of his fellow conspirators.
The coherence of his signature before and after his torture
reveals the severity of his punishment.
Eventually they captured and executed all those involved in the plot,
including the ringleader, Robert Catesby.
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The King and Parliament had been saved,
England had been spared another bloody takeover,
and Protestantism remained the dominant religion.
Today this event is commemorated in every village town and city across the country
with bonfires being lit in an event often fondly known as 'Bonfire Night.'
In a country that has remained independent for hundreds of years,
this is perhaps the closest thing to a national or Independence Day celebration.
Something that stands out from this episode of history
is how thin and fragile the line is between freedom and tyranny.
A famous person once said,
''Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.'
And yet today we live in a society where if someone's rights are being abused,
people are more likely to film it on their mobile phones
than they are to stop and do something to help.
May we defend our freedoms, civil and religious,
anytime they come under attack,
and the freedoms of others if we ever see them under threat as well.