Transcript
Podcast Host / Advertiser (0:01)
This show is sponsored by Liquid iv. From the builders of the Taj Mahal to traders on the Silk Roads, from sailors crossing oceans to crews carving the first railways through mountains, history is full of people doing thirsty work under the sun. Thankfully for the rest of us, staying hydrated is a little easier. Whether you're traveling out in the heat or just enjoying summer without running out of steam, staying hydrated is Easy with Liquid IV's Hydration Multiplier. Just one stick and 16 ounces of water hydrates faster than water alone. Powered by Liv Hydrocytes, it's an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins, and clinically tested nutrients that turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration. Keep a stick in your bag or backpack and stay hydrated while you're on the go this summer with Liquid IV Tear Pour Live. More go to liquidiv.com and get 20% off your first purchase with code Short History at checkout. That's 20% off your first purchase with Code Short History at LiquidIV. Hi listeners. Today we're bringing you an episode from the Short History of Archives A short History of the Gunpowder plot. More than 400 years since its discovery, the Gunpowder Plot remains one of the most famous events in England's history. A foiled plot to blow up King James I and the Houses of Parliament. Today, on the 5th of November, the Gunpowder Plot is commemorated across England. Fireworks and bonfires can be found in every town and village. This episode is read by Paul McGann. You can continue to hear Paul over on Noyes Real Dictators. We hope you enjoy New episodes of Short History of will be back on.
Narrator / Historian (1:58)
This podcast features scenes of a violent and or graphic nature. Listener discretion is advised. It's 10 o' clock on the night of November 4, 1605. Two men are weaving their way through the jumbled mass of buildings and lanes that make up London's palace of Westminster. Rats dart across the toes of their tall leather boots. It's cold and they're tired, but if their suspicions are correct, the job they're doing might just save England from devastation. Tomorrow will be the state opening of Parliament, the ultimate seat of power and judgment in England. For days, preparations have been underway for the ceremony, which will be attended by the most powerful men in the land. Lords, judges, clergy, members of the Privy Council, and most importantly, accompanied by his wife and his sons, King James I himself. Usually this is a day of celebration. But this pair of men aren't hanging banners or polishing silver. They're on direct orders from the King, holding aloft A lantern each. They descend yet another set of steps. The ever present threat of plague has kept Parliament closed for almost a year. So in the last week, the whole palace has been cleaned and beautified. But down here, in the undercrofts that mirror the buildings above like a catacomb, things aren't so spick and Spanish. Stepping carefully on the slippery cobbles, they duck their heads to keep the damp and mould of the brickwork ceilings from dirtying their felt hats. The men turn a corner, locating the room they've been told to check. Hours earlier, another search party found a man down here, apparently guarding a store full of firewood. The name he gave, that of John Johnson, aroused no suspicion and he was interrogated no further. But when the party reported back, the name of the man's employer aroused the King's suspicion. That name was Thomas Percy, a known Catholic agitator. Had this Johnson kept that identity to himself, his fate, and the fate of all England, might have been very different. Now, despite the late hour, light is spilling out from under the heavy wooden door. The first man, Sir Thomas Nivett, Keeper of Westminster palace, bangs on the timber. He demands entry. His colleague, a man called Doubleday, looks on. From inside comes a grunt of annoyance. Heavy footsteps, a bolt being drawn. The door swings open. Nivett lifts his lantern, illuminating the face of the cloaked stranger in the doorway. He's asked his name and again he gives it as Johnson. He's easily 6ft tall, even without the high spurred leather boots he's wearing, or the wide brimmed hat covering the deep red hair that matches a pointed beard. Sensing what's coming next, the man grabs Doubleday hard. Twisting his fingers, Doubleday kicks the man's heels from under him. Hearts pounding, he and Nivett restrain and arrest the man incapacitated. Johnson can only watch as Nivett lifts his lantern higher to search the cellar. It takes him only seconds to discover the evidence that will set into motion weeks of arrests, manhunts, torture, trials and worse. What he sees confirms the worst fears of the paranoid king. Because it's not just the matches or the torchwood, it's the barrels. First, just one. Then, as he moves, yet more firewood. Dozens of them. And from the sulfurous smell alone, Nivet knows what's inside them. Gunpowder. And there's enough here to send all of Parliament with the King and his family inside it, sky high. More than 400 years since its discovery, the Gunpowder Plot remains one of the most famous events in England's history. A precursor to modern Terrorism. It struck fear into the hearts of both government and monarchy. At its core, the plot is not just a thrilling adventure story of treason and betrayal. It's also a tale of murderous revenge kindled over decades of persecution. And a detective story complete with secrets, aliases and a letter of betrayal whose author is unknown to this day. The Conspirators, headed by a man whose name for most has been eclipsed by his famous collaborator, Guy Fawkes, came terrifyingly close to success. The lives of hundreds of people could have been lost. The seat of government, including the hallowed buildings in which England's laws are created and imposed to this day, could have been reduced to rubble. And without a functioning government, the power vacuum that followed would have left England wide open to full foreign invasion. Today, the foiling of the plot is commemorated across the country with fireworks. Bonfires can be found in every town and village. They echo those lit centuries ago in relief that the King was safe. But who was really behind the plot? Just how close did they really get? And amid the chaos that would have inevitably followed their success, what plans did they have for the future? This is a short history of the Gunpowder Plot. To understand the climate of England in the months leading up to the plot, we need to go right back. Some 70 years before it's first imagined, 43 year old Henry wants a divorce. Despite fathering five children with his wife, Catherine, only one has survived and she's a girl. The problem is, Henry is no ordinary man. He's King of England. He needs a male heir and he's already found just the woman to produce one. The only thing standing in his way is the Pope. All attempts at annulment fail until King Henry VIII can see only one solution. In 1534, he appoints himself Supreme Head of the Church of England, severing ties with Rome for the first time in almost a thousand years. On the mainland, Europe is seeing a Protestant Reformation. But that's not what's behind Henry's desire for sweeping changes to the structure and practice of religion in England, Ireland and Wales. What he wants is freedom, power and money. In the next few years, he will systematically seize control of the land and wealth held by Catholic monasteries, churches and convents. He will brutally suppress those who argue against his will. After his death, Henry's son, Edward vi, is the first king to have been raised a Protestant. He continues his father's work of bankrupting the Catholic Church. But after only six years on the throne, he dies. And it's now that the religious disposition of the throne starts to swing Like a pendulum, Edward gives way to Mary, his elder half sister. And Mary, who was already 18 by the time her father broke England away from the Pope, is a devout Catholic. Mary works feverishly to rebuild ties with Rome. Despite Parliament obstructing her desire to return confiscated property and land, she does what she can to reverse her father's destruction of Catholicism. It's a brief but blistering reign over only five years as queen, she burns almost 300 Protestant dissenters at the stake on Mary's death. When her younger Protestant half sister becomes Queen Elizabeth I, the pendulum swings back. And it's now that the backdrop for a conspiracy 50 years later starts to come into focus. Initially, Elizabeth wants peace. She tolerates most Catholics, known as recusants, from the Latin word for refusal. But as her reign progresses, relations between Catholics and Protestants get much worse. Life for recusants becomes increasingly intolerable. Historian Jim Sharp explains.