← Who Did What Now With Katie Charlwood
Who Did What Now With Katie Charlwood
The Gunpowder Plot
01:10:15
Remember, Remember the 5th of November...
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Hello delicious friends, and welcome to who did what Now? The History podcast. That's not your history class. With me, your host, Katie Charlewood, history harlot and reader of books. And yes, a bonus episode. What? Look, I. I did one. I have been planning to talk about the Gunpowder plot for actual years. Like I have a list of topics and events and people that, you know, I'm desperate to talk about. But I feel like need the right moment. And I finally forced myself to write this because I haven't been sleeping well recently and I was like I need to do something and this is what I did. And so it's a bonus episode. It's November. It is the 5th of November on day of release and I think it's time for me to quit my jibber jabber and fact you. In fact you I will. But first we've got to get our source on. Our sources are the Book of Days By Robert Chambers 5 November Guy Fawkes By Harry Hems Faith and Treason the Story of the Gunpowder Plot by Antonia Fraser Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot by Historic Royal Palaces Queen James by Gareth Russell Strategy and Motivation in the Gunpowder Plot by Mark Nicholls Gunpowder Treason and Scots by Jenny Wormwold. And of course we have our old friends history.com and biography.com. are you sitting comfortably? Good. Then let's begin. Remember, remember the 5th of November the gunpowder treason and plot I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgotten. Guy Fawkes and his companions did the scheme contrive to blow the King and Parliament all up alive Threescore barrels laid below to prove old England's overthrow But by God's providence, him they catch With a dark lantern lighting a match a stick and a stake for King James sake. If you won't give me one, I'll take two. The better for me, the worse for you. A rope, a rope to hang the Pope A Pennyworth of cheese to choke him A pint of beer to wash it down and a jolly good fire to burn him. Halloa boys, Halloa boys Make the bells sing. Halloa boys. Helloa boys. God save the King. Hip hip hooray. So that's a poem from like the earliest we can date it is like the 19th century, like officially. And it's a poem that often most people know the first few lines of. And mainly because of the graphic novel and subsequent movie Vie for Vendetta, in which a man in a Guy Fawkes mask brings down an evil dystopian theocracy. There's also that line, often referenced by anarchists, that the last person to enter Parliament with honest intentions was Guy Fawkes. Unfortunately, over the years, many have forgotten what those intentions were, because Guy Fawkes wasn't just trying to destroy an evil theocracy, he was also trying to install one. But before we get into Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot, we need to slip into some context. If you're from the UK or any neighbouring lands, then you may be well acquainted with Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night or even just Fireworks night, so called because there would be bonfires and fireworks, as you can see. While really good at naming things like the river Avon, which just means river river. That being said, the Sahara Desert is also just desert desert, as is Gobi Desert, which is desert desert. Like, yeah, yeah, we just. We just name things as we see them. Ron Seal, diamond coat does exactly what it does in the tin. So yes, I don't even know if this is still a thing, because there would be bonfires and fireworks and there would also be, like, effigies, an effigy of fox, which would be bummed atop the bonfire. And like, when, when I was wee, and I know this used to be a thing for many people is you would make an effigy, like, lots of kids would do this and it would be like a Guy Fawkes type scarecrow. And you'd go around, usually with a wheelbarrow, because that's the easiest thing to transport a body in. I mean, a effigy. And so you dress up in, like, clothes and you would go around being like, penny for the guy and get people to give you, like, pennies. And so you collect all these pennies and go down to the corner shop and spend all on, like, handfuls of sweets, like cola cubes or. Oh, I'm trying to think of sweets from the sweet shop. Lemon drops, other sweets from Ye Olde Time. Sweet licorice, man, I love licorice. Red licorice, actual licorice. I actually just sent a friend a little care package with stuff in it. And just for lulls, I put in licorice, all sorts, because I genuinely don't know if that's a thing where they are. And I thought, just for shits and giggles, let's send this because if it's not a thing, they're going to be so disgusted with me anyway. Before Bonfire Night became a thing, the holiday was originally passed by Parliament, known as the Thanksgiving act, the motion, called the Observance of 5 November act, decreed that ministers in every cathedral and parish church or usual place for common prayer shall always, upon the 5th day of November, say morning prayer and give unto Almighty God thanks for this most happy deliverance. Basically, it's a church service every year to ensure that no one forget that an attempt to revolt and overthrow the King and government failed and that everyone involved was very harshly punished. But why would someone want to blow up the King in Parliament? Well, I'm glad you asked because I'll tell you. So it all starts with King Henry viii. King. Because of course it does. Which I think I discussed this way back in episodes, I want to say, between 13 and 18, which cover the six wives of Henry VIII. So, like, one episode per wife. You see it more in the first couple of episodes, in the first couple of wives. And yeah, Henry, if you don't know who that is, King of England, he believes in the divine right of kings. So he believes that he is sitting upon the throne by the determination of God, right? God has decided that he should be the monarch and must rule. So he's also self obsessed, narcissistic, and went off the handle whenever he was told no. Or in any situation where he did not have full control. Just like when he wanted to divorce. I say divorce when he wanted to annul the marriage from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, because they had a daughter and no living sons. Like he had illegitimate sons from all of his whore and about, but no legitimate male heir for the line of succession because the qualifications to run a country come from the testicles. Catherine's nephew was the Holy Roman Emperor, and he, along with the pope at the time, did not want the royal marriage annulled. Because here's the thing as well, right? For Catherine, if the marriage was annulled, her daughter with Henry, Mary, right, she would become illegitimate, and she was not having that, right? But Henry, he really, really, really, really, really wanted to shag Anne Boleyn, and he really wanted a legitimate heir. And Anne Boleyn was not about to knock boots without a ring of her finger. Because Anne, I'm Cliff Notes in this year. Anne was evangelical, and I will argue one of the two decent evangelicals in history, the other being abolitionist. The Catholic Church refuses to annul Henry's first marriage, and so he makes a new religion a better one with blackjack and hookers. No. So he makes himself the head of the Anglican Church, which is effectively just Catholicism lite. So anyway, this break from the Catholic Church and the attempted conversion of the entire country to the Protestant Church of England, of which Henry was now the supreme head of, led to decades, slash centuries of sectarian tension, like he was going absolutely wild, right? Ordering Catholic churches and the like to be sacked and heretics burned at the stake. So anyone who believed in the religion that they had had their entire life and continued to believe in that faith, and anyone who practiced that faith, like monks, priests, so on and so forth, right? He's. He's. Well, he has these people burned at the stake, yeah. And when his son, Edward vi, when he takes the throne, guided by his advisors, he continues this religious persecution. Now, when Edward Croxit and his older sister Mary the first ascends to the throne, right? Well, Jane was queen for like nine days, Lady Jane Gray, and she was Protestant. And they're like, she's gonna be the next one. And Mary just like rides in. She's like, not in your Nellie. And she has such support, like, just for being Mary, because her mum was super loved by the whole country. And again, all this bad shit happened after the whole, you know, religious break. So Mary the first, when she ascends to the throne, she is super Catholic and the persecution flips the other way. Although I will note that comparatively, and I feel we need to take this on board, she executed way less people during her reign than her father or either of her siblings. Right. She's called Bloody Mary. But she didn't like murder. Even ratio wise as many people as everybody else, like still not cool to burn people at the stake for heresy. But also she did it less than the rest, like, so next the next one in line because Mary dies without an heir, she doesn't have any children. So her younger sister, Queen Elizabeth I, she's Protestant. And so the scales tip again. And her response to the growing religious divide in England is to introduce the Elizabethan religious settlement, which meant that anyone appointed to an official possession, even either in church or public office, had to swear allegiance to the monarch as the head of the church and state. So basically, if you wanted to have any job of importance, any standing, you would have to swear, basically publicly swear that you believed that the monarch was the head of the church. And so you're basically announcing that you'll, that you're Protestant effectively. Right. And anyone who was Catholic would then not have these same opportunities or have those same powers. So it basically creates this divide, not just, not just for religious reasons, but it also affects class because it means that people lose authority and lose power. So the penalty for not swearing fealty were harsh, they were fines if you refused and repeat offenders were imprisoned or this may shock you, executed. And so English Catholics, they struggled in this society with Catholicism becoming more and more marginalized. And those practicing Catholicism, they shrunk and in numbers. And this sort of created little pockets in places. So the areas in which Catholicism was being practiced was mainly in remote areas outwith London, with many priests and laymen practicing the religion in secret because, you know, punishment, death, so much death like that was on the cards for you, like. And so many Catholics, they were optimistic, I'm gonna say. And they believed that when King James VI of Scotland, first of England, when he sat upon the English throne, that he would be more lenient towards the Catholic minority. And one of the reasons like this was like a concept for a lot of people was because his mother was Mary Queen of Scots, who was Catholic. And so it was assumed by a lot of the English Catholics that he would be more benevolent. Right. However, right. If you've listened to any tale in which James has been mentioned, we all know that leniency is not something he's known for. Like, the man didn't do things by halves. He personally tried women for witchcraft because the sea was rocky. He commissioned Bible fanfiction and had it published. And he dissolved Parliament for not being nice to his boyfriend twice. See, throughout Elizabeth the First's reign, the execution of Catholic priests was common. Like, very common. And James had written that he wished for priests to be exiled instead of executed. Like, he writes this letter and effectively says that I would like them to be sent away with both their head and. And their body. So, like, let's not cut off their heads. You know, let's send them away. And that is better than murder. You know, it's like banishment or murder. These are options. And so, yeah, people were optimistic. They're thinking, oh, he's like, treading the water. He's gonna be, you know, less murderous. And this. This was already good. But then to add, on top of that, after his coronation in July 1603, James said that he would pardon the fines against recusants. So recusants are those who would not recognize the monarch as the head of the church. So he was going to pardon any vines for a full year. However, that lasted a couple of months. Well, seven months, actually. And in February 1604, James makes a public declaration that he has, and this is a quote, an utter detestation of Catholicism. Yep. Sorry, let me make that more Scottish. An undile detestation of Catholicism. This is swiftly followed by a repeal of the order of his pardoning of the recusant fines. And after religious tolerance being snatched away after being dangled in front of them, unsurprisingly, the Catholics are a bit ticked off. And when I say ticked off, what I mean is the British Catholics were pissed. They had spent so long, nearly half a century, suffering religious persecution, and here they were deceived by the very king that they had placed their faith in. This is when you place our faith in God and not monarchies. Okay, I couldn't help myself. But this betrayal led to more shuffling back into the dark, praying in secret, and hiding their religion, at least for the majority. But like many groups suffering from years of oppression, a splinter group forms, and they have decided that enough is enough.
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@Mintmobile.Com Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan. 15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first 3 months only then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com On 20 May 1604, the A group of men meet at a pub and they share a table at the Duck and Drake Inn in London. This group of men were determined to make a change and take matters into their own hands. The instigator of this group was Robert Catesby, a Catholic fanatic. And that's not really surprising when we see that's over and over again, right? When marginalized communities are victims of oppression. While some cower when backed into a corner, others attack like they go straight for the jugular. K is one of those people and like, remember this is action reaction. This is a response. This just didn't happen in nowhere. Like this is is a group of people who have decided that this is the only course of action left. And you see this happen over and over again. When the boot is on the neck, like what do you do? So Robert Catesby, he's the charismatic radical ringleader who had seen his father persecuted under Elizabeth I's government. And Catesby himself had been imprisoned and fined for joining the uprising of Robert Devereux, the second Earl of Essex. Now after being released, like, I mean, I mean he doesn't even hide what he's trying to do. He's just very openly going fuck you. So like after he's released, he promoted a Spanish invasion of England, which shockingly put him in prison again. So like he's back in the clink in 1603, which is just before Queen Elizabeth the First's death. And it's here that he conceived the plot to destroy not only the King but the government too, by placing gunpowder under the Parliament building, blowing it up. Was it because it was a convenient way to kill many at once? Or was it maybe a nod to the death of James's father, Lord Darnley? Whom's to say? Catesby's second in command was his cousin, Thomas Wintour, who was initially reluctant to join this plot. Winter was introduced to this plan by a crazy random happenstance. Upon visiting his cousin in Lambeth, he had inadvertently walked in on a meeting with another conspirator, John Wright. Sometimes you'll see John's name written as Jack, and that's because Jack is a nickname for John. Like thee, this and this happens, okay? It's like Harry is how you pronounce Henry. Like, it's very, very weird thing names the English language. Does it make sense? No. That's because English is four languages in a trench coat, following rules of some Germanic languages and other, like Latin and French and other ones. Now, Thomas Winter, he was apprehensive. He was apprehensive that such an extreme act would have incredibly terrible repercussions if the plot failed, and as a result, British Catholics would be further persecuted. He's like, this is a good plan. I'm not saying it's not a good plan. I'm just saying, have we considered the possibility of things going awry and everyone suffering? I just wanna. I just want to float the idea. So he is. He is a little bit cagey to begin with. But his cousin's charm won him over. And within a few weeks, Thomas Winter was setting sail to Spain in the hope of recruiting aid for this zealous cause. The Spanish, however, politely declined to acquiesce with their requests. But over there, he did meet someone who would aid in the plot. A soldier named Guido Fox, who we'll get back to in a moment. John, who was also sitting at the table. John Wright, he was a swordsman who had actually gone to school with Guy Fawkes in York. He, along with his brother Christopher, who would join the plot later, were imprisoned for their involvement in the Earl of Essex Rebellion as well. So it's like six degrees of Kevin Bacon Hill. Like they're all connected through, like, one way or the other. And they're all Catholic, which I feel like is the important part here as well. So the fifth and final man at the table was Thomas Percy, who was John Wright's brother in law. Like I said, they're all connected. Percy is an interesting one. His second cousin once removed was Henry Percy, the 9th Earl of Northumberland, and he served the Earl in the Low Countries. The Low Countries, it's okay. Geography is political. It's not actually geographical, especially when you're talking about countries. So the Low Countries at this point basically is round about Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. So around about there. So he's serving the Earl down in the Low Countries, and he's running communications between the Earl and King James VI of Scotland. So, like, before, he was actually on the English throne. So he's got this connection to these people he's known and he's respected. Now, some of these people are, like, secretly Catholic and others are very blatantly Catholic. Now, Guy Fawkes, the one that everyone knows the name of and knows very little about, he was born around April in 1570 to Edward and Edith Fox in Stonegate in York. He was the second of four children that the couple had together. He had an older sister who passed away, and he would go on to have two younger sisters. So Edward, he was a church lawyer and a staunch Protestant. Meanwhile, Edward, Edith's family were secret Catholics. So when Edward dies, and Edward is a relatively decent man in means, he's a lawyer and he's like, super Protestant. So for a while, Edith is doing well. She's well taken care of. You know, all of the inheritance, all of the lands, it goes to the oldest son. So it goes to Guy. But because she's his mother and he's only eight, she's. She's doing okay for a while. So over the next few years, things are. Things are fine. But eventually Edith remarries and she makes the very deliberate decision to marry the Catholic Dianys Bainbridge of Harrogate. So it's a few years later, I think he's like 12 when she remarries, which I think is fairly close to him becoming man age back in the day. Now he's lived this life he's lived with his mother, and now she's remarried this Catholic man. And so Guy Fawkes, he converts to Catholicism when his mother remarried, and he ends up going to St. Peter's School in York. And this is governed by a man who had spent 20 years in prison for recusancy. And like other peoples in this school, like, it was a very Catholic school, like, other peoples would go on to become priests, many of whom would be executed during Elizabeth's reign. And, like, he saw suffering in his community growing up. He saw anyone who was, you know, a recusant or anyone who was harboring priests, like, hiding them for their safety. Like, he watched his pregnant neighbor become pressed to death. Like he watched the stones crush her body while she was pregnant because this didn't matter. And, and like, this is a time as well, like, sidebar where, you know, the quickening would have had to occur, which basically means you had to, like, be obviously pregnant, you know, past that, like three month mark, because otherwise they wouldn't believe it. It's like a whole thing. Now when Guy leaves school, he, you know, he tries to go on with his life and he ends up working for both Viscount Montagues, the first and the second. The older one doesn't really like him, the second one thinks he's fine, but eventually he's like, fuck this for a game of soldiers. And he decides he wants to get away. He wants to get away. He wants to fly away. Well, sail. He wants to sail away. Because by the time he's 21, he decides to sell the land that he has inherited from his father and bugger off to the continent. So he goes to Spain and he joined the military of Catholic Spain, fighting against the new Dutch Republic in the Eight Years War. Bear in mind, the Spanish Armada was only five years previous. And so Spain and England, they were still at war and he's gone over there to fight for the Spanish. So he fought for Spain for three years as an Alvarez. And by all accounts, he was a good soldier and very zealous, like, super Catholic. So when Thomas Winter came looking for aid, Guido as he was then called, because that was now his Spanish name, he was ready for action. And so, as the five men agreed to this plot and this Duck and Drake Inn, they passed a small prayer book to one another and each of them swore upon it. In the next room, a priest was holding a secret Sunday Catholic Mass. And so the men took Holy Communion, took the sacrament to be a sign that God was on their side. They ran a mission from Gad. Each man at the table, the Duck and Drake in the very fashionable Strand in London. Each one had their own task to help the plan progress. But it was really Thomas Percy's promotion that would get the ball rolling. In June of 1604, Thomas Percy was given the title of gentleman pensioner. Which doesn't mean that he's some fancy old fellow politely offering everyone a silk handkerchief or a Werther's original. No, this put him in the prime position of being a bodyguard for the Earl of Northumberland. As one of the earl's 50 or so bodyguards. This gave Thomas Percy a perfectly valid reason to find himself a permanent address in the city of London, with a fixed abode in the nation's capital, the conspiring Catholics now had a base of operations. And Thomas Percy, he's now a man of some standing. Little standing, but some. As a bodyguard to the earl. Now, what kind of man of some little, but some standing would not have a servant? Like, everybody had a servant? Like, like you'd have to be a servant to not have a servant. Like, that's why people collected orphans. They're like, they're really good at scrubbing corners and sweeping chimneys. So he hires Thomas Pelcey. He hires Guy Fawkes to be his servant, although he does it under a fake name. They're. They're, you know. And. And what alias did this seasoned soldier provide? John Johnson. Right. Okay. I'm sorry. That's about as believable as, like, Jan's boyfriend, George Tropicana. Like, that. That sounds like a name that you make up, like, under pressure or like, what's your name? John Johnson. Like, that's not a name that you just think long and hard about. Like, what is a reasonable, logical name? John Johnson. Like, John Smith would have been better. Like, John Smith. Although they would have been like, what are you a Smith of? But, yeah. Wow. Wow. A funny thing about the name John Smith is, like, years ago, because John Smith is seen as such a. A. A fake name, because, okay, so in the uk, there are. Sidebar sidebar. In the uk, there are common surnames. The three most common surnames. I know it used to be Smith, Jones, and Brown. Like, those were the top three. I think they sort of have wiggled a little now, but for a long time, like, Smith, Jones, and Brown were the most common cell names. And. And these were so common that if you were filling out a form on the Internet and you put in the name John Smith, it would not accept you. Like, it would not accept your name. So you would have to be like, John J. Smith or John A. Smith. Like, you would have to change it in some way because a lot of the forms would just assume you're using an alias, a fake name, and John Smith for a while became, like, a known alias that people would use. Oh, but yes, the dastardly clever name, John Johnson. Now, now, I am making fun of this a bit, but it does have, like, a hint of, like, when Lucille Fayleur changed her name to Joan Crawford. Right, Lucille to Joan. Okay. Not that I'm dismissing any Jones out there. I'm sure you're lovely, but, you know, so it was all about making her sound more normal. And I suppose if your name is Guido Fox, you're like, yeah, John Johnson seems like a perfectly reasonable English name. So there, over the next eight months, they are recruiting, they are planning and they are saving their ducats, like they are saving money. Because By March in 1605, the crew had managed to accrue just enough cash to lease a storage seller in the undercroft. Well, it was conveniently located. One, it was a short distance from Thomas Percy's home and two, it was directly underneath the palace of Westminster. So you may be wondering, Delush's friend, but how? Alright, so Westminster now is quite different to Westminster, then they've definitely buffed up the security a wee bit. But I mean, that being said, they do still have the underground tunnel which leads from Parliament to the pub, right, the not so secret tunnel that we all know about, but we're not allowed to use because we're not Members of Parliament. Anyway, back in the 17th century, it wasn't just like the House of Parliament. No, no, no, no, no. It was a collection of taverns, shops and homes. Like, there were private apartments there, like, it was all, like, businesses and shops and loads of stuff was happening there. And so underneath in the undercroft, there were loads of cellars and these were being rented out for, like, storage solutions. So because of where they were located, it would have been mighty pricey to rent in the undercroft, but it was not impossible. And a respectable man who works for another respectable man, he, he hired a sailor for storage, which his servant will keep stocked up. Nothing suspicious or untoward here at all. And yes, John Johnson then spends the next four months stocking the cellar up with barrels and barrels of gunpowder, 36 barrels in total, right, Carefully hidden under firewood. So they've just got these, like, bundles of firewood and they've got the barrels just like hidden underneath the flammable object. But anyway, so, so basically they managed to acquire 20 barrels to begin with. So like between March and May, they basically have 30 barrels and then they get 16 more. So they're getting ready for July. So you've got 36 barrels in total, carefully hidden under all this, like, bundles of firewood, because Parliament was supposed to go back into session in July, but gosh darn it, would you believe it, that pesky plague came back and it pushed everything back a few months. And so a new date is set, the 5th of November. So during this time, because there wasn't really a lot to do. And in the summer, the King's out hunting and doing all his, like, Stuff hanging out with his boyfriend, you know how it is. So Fox, sorry, Johnson, he left the country for the summer. Like he heads off somewhere. We don't know where he went, we know he left, we know he came back. And when he returns, he realizes that like the gunpowder, cuz he checks on it, cuz he's a soldier who's used to gunpowder and he's not a fcking idiot. And so he goes in there and he realizes along with he's with someone else with another one of the conspirators. And they realize that some of the gunpowder has rotted. Now, like they have acquired this gunpowder by not legal means. Like they have, like some of it's come off the back of a cart. They've done a back alley dealing with somebody. So yeah, it's not surprising that some of this stuff wasn't up to snuff. And so they end up having to replace like the barrels of gunpowder. So yeah, they end up having to like smuggle in more because gunpowder, fun fact, decays. Did you know that gunpowder can decay? It can. So I mean, other people probably know this, but I don't spend a lot of time around gunpowder specifically. Yeah, unless you include sparklers. Like because gunpowder, the same material as chemical or whatever it is, it's used in sparklers. And so legally, like a firework, you cannot take a sparkler on a plane. Now I have never been silly enough to try and take a sparkler on a plane, but I do know someone who did try. And they were going through security at the airport. Sidebar. They were going through security at the airport and they were like, you cannot take this explosive item on the plane in your hand luggage, by the way. And they're like, what? They're like, no, no, no, no, no. So, yes. So Parliament is due to return on the 5th of November. It's going to go back into session. It's going to be the opening of Parliament and everyone has a role to play. And they now had a fully fledged plan. Guy Fawkes was to light a fuse to set off the 36 barrels of gunpowder on 5 November, when Parliament was in session, or like the whole opening thing and like this would be attended by not only King James, but his son and heir, Charles, which for the record, they knew, right? They knew that he was going to be there and they're well aware that a child prince was going to be in attendance and they were gonna blow it up. So Guido, you know, he was there to ignite the fuse. Then he was supposed to flee across the Thames river and abscond to the continent to alert European Catholic leaders of the deed. Meanwhile, Robert Catesby and the followers he amassed would start a rebellion up in the Midlands, the purpose of which was to kidnap Princess Elizabeth, King James's daughter. Right. The plan was to make her the Catholic monarch of England and Scotland too, I guess. And so a Catholic ruled regime would begin. And so the plan was to basically mold her into the perfect Catholic queen. I think the idea as well was to have the Earl of Northumberland act as her regent until she became of age, after which they would marry her to a very, very super duper Catholic man. Maybe from another nation, maybe, maybe from the home nation. Not really relevant. Just as long as he was Catholic. And they were going to. Because Robert Catesby, he was, he was fanatical, he was severe in his beliefs. And so he wanted to do to Protestant people what had been happening to Catholics, which is no, an appropriate way to rule a country. Like just because someone's a different religion to you. Even though Anglicanism and Catholicism are goodness, they're brother and sister, you know, they're not twins, but they're siblings. I mean cousins at a push but like they're very close. And anyway, sectarianism and other kind of religious, you know, abuse, it's, it's ridiculous. And punishing people because they follow a particular faith is shitty, really. But yes, what they wanted to do was put into power a Catholic monarch that they could control and that would basically reverse uno everything that happened over the past like half a century, effectively. After a year and a half of planning, the Gunpowder Plot was finally coming to fruition. And they were days away from achieving their goal of a Catholic dominated England. But all their hard work would be snuffed out by a man with cold feet and a letter.
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Of $45 for 3 month plan. $15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. Cmintmobile.com On 26 October 1605, a letter was delivered to the home of William Parker, Lord Monteagle. It is suspected that the letter was written by one of the conspirers, his brother in law, Francis Tresham. Lord Monteagle receives this letter 10 days before the coup is due to take place. My Lord, out of the love I bear to some of your friends, I have care of your preservation. Therefore I would advise you as tender your life to devise some excuse to shift your attendance at this parliament. For God and man hath concurred to punish the wickedness of this time. And think not slightly of this advertisement, but retire yourself into your country where you may expect the event in safety. For though there is no appearance of any star, yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow, this parliament, and yet they shall not see who hurts them. This counsel is not to be condemned because it may do you good and can do you no harm. For the danger has passed as soon as you have burnt the letter. And I hope God will give you the grace to make good use of it, to whose holy protection I commend you. So that is the Mount Eagle letter. And it basically says, don't go. Stuff's gonna blow and also burn. After reading now Lord Mount Eagle, he is understandably a bit taken aback by this letter. And so just in case, just in case, he travels to Whitehall and hands the letter to the Earl of Salisbury. So like, he's like, nope, nope, off I go. So instead of doing as the letter suggests, he's like, no, I gotta, I gotta tell somebody about this. Like, this is why we don't tell men secrets. They can't hold them. Like, they just can't hold their water. So the letter goes to the Earl of Salisbury, who then told the Earl of Worcester and then Henry Howard, the first Earl of Northampton, right? So he goes through all of these. Like, this letter has been passed from pillar to post and everybody is hearing all about it, right? Meanwhile, Montego's servant, he sends word back to the Wright brothers and that they had been betrayed. And so for the next 10 days, everyone's on edge, right? So word is going here and there, but currently no one has told the king, right? The paranoid convinced everyone is out to get him king. So you've got People being, you know, worried, like, this information is out. How far has it gone? Do they know what we're actually gonna do? Like, there's a threat. What's the threat? And so they. They don't know how to trust. They don't know how big of a leak it is, and everyone is in danger. So, like, there was a conversation amongst, like, the big five. They were trying to decide, like, should we warn, like, this person's relative? Should we try and get people not to go? Like, let's have them feign an injury or something. And this other person took matters into their own hands. And Thomas Wintour, right, he is absolutely bricking it. And he tries to convince Robert Catesby to abandon the whole thing. But, like, Catsby, he is a dog with a bone, right? Like, he's so close to his goal and there is no way he's given up now. And so on the evening on the 4th of November, still steadfast in their beliefs, Catesby and John Wright, the swordsman, they rode off to the Midlands, ready to kick off the rebellion the very next day. But back in London, cracks were forming because, although not originally informed of the letter, King James would know about it by November 1st. And after stewing about it for four days, the paranoid king, who was no stranger to attempts on his life, had ordered guards to search the entire palace of Westminster for anything that could cause the Mount Eagle rules blow to Parliament. Now, because he got this letter in the Tower of London, like, he ends up being locked away because they're like, you had something to do with this. And he's like, I warned people. Now, remember, there's the cellar in the undercroft being rented by Thomas Percy. Like, so they're going through all of these areas and they're going through these, well, storage units, basically, in the undercroft. And so the officials, they see these bundles and bundles of firewood stacked up high, like all the way to the ceiling, and they're like, okay, sure, you know, like, you can rationalize, like, bundles and bundles of firewood. So, like, it's. It's weird, right? It's not. It's not usual, but it. It's fine because, you know, it's November, it's cold. Like, by mid winter, it's so cold that the Thames freezes over. Like back then, not now, because we have global warming. So, like, they can rationalize a ridiculous amount of firewood. And that's like, when they're down there, they see John Johnson who's, you know, like, don't be suspicious. Don't be suspicious. Don't be suspicious. Don't be suspicious. Don't be suspicious. So he's just there, and they're like, oh, that's a servant. And has, you know, master's storage area. Again, perfectly reasonable. Okay, now, because he just looks like a servant, right? He doesn't look any which way. I mean, he does have ginger hair and a goatee and apparently fairly muscly. He's quite robust, which is probably what you want in a servant or a soldier. So it's. It's this where they're kind of like, okay, so they leave, and then they discover whose storage unit it is. And so they come back later on, right? This is nighttime, early hours in the morning, right? So. Well, late on November 4th. And so when the officials come back, right, when they have copped on that this is Thomas Percy's cellar. A man who knows Mount Eagle, but also is known to have Catholic sympathies. And what do you know? He is his servant. And they're like, hello, hello, hello. What have we got here, then? And so they roll a perception check and they notice that Percy's servant has had a costume change since seeing him earlier. He's now in riding clothes. So, like, bit. Where are you going? Right? He is wearing clothes that's designed for him to get up and go, you know, because you would have different clothes, like, for these specific things back in the day. Like, there wasn't a huge amount of outfit changes for, like, certain people. But traveling clothes, like, for writing. Yeah, yeah. You'd have something very different and it would be very obvious as to what this was. So again, they've rode in that 20, and upon this person, they have discovered a watch. So clearly he's keeping an eye on the time. And big fuck off matches, right? Hidden in his cloak. And these are long matches. And so they're looking at the matches and they're looking at the massive piles of wood. And they're thinking, fire, obviously. And, you know, it's taking a while. It's ticking, it's ticking. We're getting there. And so they decide to actually look through the cellar. So instead of just, you know, standing there and going, that's a big pile of wood. Instead of doing that, they decide we're gonna actually look through some of this. And underneath all of these bundles of wood, they see that there are barrels and barrels of gunpowder. But, like, yeah, it's nighttime. Why. Why is Guy Fawkes here, right? It's because he is the only dude in the OG5 that has munitions experience. Like, he's a soldier, he knows how to blow stuff up, right? And so there's human, you know, it's late enough, he's gonna light a very, very long fuse. Long enough to blow up Parliament at the right moment. But, yes. By the early hours of the 5th of November, the House of Cards is crashing down. Fox had been nabbed by the authorities and they had called for the arrest of the man who was renting the cellar, Thomas Percy, who, unbeknownst to them, was already riding to the Midlands to join Catesby and the remaining conspirers, like those who were still in England. A lot of them were just, like, getting the hell out of Dodge because once news of Guy Fawkes's arrest came, yeah, people. People were worried. Guy Fawkes had been caught and the plot had been foiled. But when captured, he refused to give his real name or the names of other conspirators, Right? So he claimed the plot was all his own making and showed absolutely no remorse. Right? He's like, snitches get stitches. Okay, I'm keeping my own counsel. And he very calmly told his interrogators that the devil, not God, was to blame for the plot being discovered. And the man is interrogated for nearly two days and said, jack shit. This pissed King James off so much. Like, so much. And so late on November 6, he orders that John Johnson be sent to the Tower of London so that he can, you know, have the information tortured out of him. So basically, basically, they're like, start with gentler tortures and then work your way up to, like, the bad ones. And we don't know the exact tortures he suffered, but he was definitely put on the rack in the White Tower dungeons. So likelihood, we're talking thumb screws now. I. I remember being told an account of when I was younger, like, being in, like, primary school, national school, elementary level, like, young, young, young, young. And they told you about the ways that they were, like, taking off their fingernails and all of these torture techniques of the time and what would have been likely used on Guy Fawkes, because that's appropriate to tell children. And explains a lot about why I probably watch a lot of horror movies, or I used to anyway, before I became a big scaredy cat. And now if I want to watch a horror movie, I need someone to protect me, please. I mean, I love horror, but look after me, please. And don't make too much fun of me when I jump at the jump scares. So it took one day of Torture for John Johnson to break and reveal himself to be Guy Fawkes. The oath sworn on the Bible at the Duck. And Drake was now broken too. As he was being racked, news spread to his comrades in the Midlands. They had been betrayed, Fawkes had been caught. And worse still, the gunpowder never went off. Parliament and all those supposed to be in attendance, they were all absolutely fine. Now they had options. Do they abandon their idea? Do they flee? Do they. Do they seek refuge? What do they do? Instead of escaping or doing literally anything else, Robert Catesby has a last stand. He tries to get men to rally to his cause, claiming that the King is dead. Unfortunately, this plan only gathers him about 40 men and not really enough to start a rebellion with. And so it is wet and miserable and rainy and they are sodden. And so they end up camping outside Holborsh House, and that's in Staffordshire. And they're like, they're sitting up a bonfire. They're gonna dry themselves out. Well, not just them, their clothes and of course, their gunpowder. Spoiler alert. This was not a great plan. This is why they had Guido there, Guy Fawkes, in charge of the munitions. That's why they put him in charge of the gunpowder, because these men, sharing their last remaining brain cell thought, let's try out the explosive next to this open flame. And, yeah, needless to say, there was an explosion. And this explosion caused many burns over many people, with one man even being blinded. It also used up a significant portion of their gunpowder, so they had barely enough to defend themselves with. Many men were too injured to continue, others deserted, and only a few remained with no other course of action but to accept their faith. I mean, if you stand for nothing, but what'll you fall for? So the following morning at 11:00am, over 200 men, led by the High Sheriff of Worcester, Richard Walsh, showed up at Holbush House ready to take on Catesby and his men. The shootout, it lasted mere minutes. Robert Catesby, Thomas Percy, John Wright, they were all dead at the end of a musket. Thomas Winter took a gunshot wound to the shoulder, but he survived, only to be sent to the Tower of London alongside Ambrose Rockwood, Robert Keyes, Guy Fawkes, John Grant, Everett Digby and Thomas Bates. The men were committed, tried and sentenced to the act of high treason. And punishment was for them to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Now, Katie, you might say, do you mean hung, drawn and quartered? And to answer your question, no, I mean hanged. On the 30th of January, 1606, Robert Winter, John Grant, Everett Digby and Thomas Bates were drawn behind a horse through the London streets to St Paul's churchyard. So the men, they were tied to hurdles which are like these wooden panels, and this is behind horses and they are dragged, right? So that's the drawn part of this. So hand drawn, quartered, that's drawn. And you're thinking, why is that in the middle? It just sounds better. That's probably why. So they would then be hanged by the neck until almost dead. So they were to hang in such a way that they wouldn't die, but they would suffer while they were still alive. They were to be cut down and so cut from the rope and they would be emasculated, disemboweled, beheaded and quartered. So the emasculation and disembowelment, this would happen as they were conscious. So what this means, I'm going to go into deeper details here, this means that they would be like fully conscious, or at least they would make sure that they were alive enough for this to be castrated. And for the disemboweling, their abdomen would be cut open and their entrails and organs would be removed. And so this is the part that would typically kill them. And the organs were generally like thrown into a fire for, like burning the bad stuff. But also fire is meant to be like cleansing in a lot of religions and also for drama. So they would then be decapitated and the body, the remaining bits of it would be quartered, so cut into four parts. So that is your quartered and then the head and the quarters would typically be parboiled. And so, like, they would often put heads on spikes and display them, but they would often boil them like a wee bit first so that they would last a bit longer so that you could see, you know, don't be bad or your head will end up in a spike, like a warning, you know. So this is what happened to them. Hanged, drawn, quartered, and the following day, on the 31st of January, 1606, Ambrose Rockwood, Robert Keyes, Thomas Winter and Guy Fawkes, or to suffer the same fate. Now, we only have two surviving confessions of, like, this whole plot, and they are by Thomas Winter and Guy Fawkes. Now, Thomas Winter's handwriting, it's like, it's consistent until it comes to his signature. And so there's a little bit of wiggle about that. And Guy Fawkes, you can tell that his hands have been damaged. When he signs his name a second time, like, you can see the difference. So these men, they are drawn by the horse, they are brought to the gallows. And Robert Keyes, he didn't wait for the hangman signal and so he leapt from the gallows, but he survived the drop. And so he, he was then disemboweled and quartered. Guy Fawkes, however, a man broken on the rack, who had lived through torture at like 35 years old, he jumps from the gallows and he does it in such a way that he does break his neck, saving himself from the agony of, of the torture that would follow because they still did those things to his body, but he didn't feel it. Days before these executions, on the 23rd of January, 1606, the Thanksgiving act would be passed to ensure that no one would forget that the monarchy survived. A dangerous plot. A dangerous plot by Catholic recusants. And 400 years later, it has turned into an event of celebration with bonfires, fireworks, toffee apples, hot cocoa, and, of course, sparklers. And this is something I always bring up when I talk about King James when it comes to things happen in his life. Like, you can make up stories about King James, but they're pretty easily verifiable because this is a man who didn't get killed. And we have a holiday about it right where he didn't even. Almost right. There wasn't a touch and go. The spark wasn't slowly moving down that fuse. No, no, no, no. It was like kiboshed right away. So when it comes to, oh, he did this, you could easily see if he did or not because he was his best promoter. But it's interesting now how we see Guy Fawkes. Like the image of Guy Fawkes represents, you know, anarchy, rebellion, rebellion against, you know, theocracy and capitalism and all of that nature. When he was part of a radical group that were probably going to cause quite, quite a dogmatic regime, it was just gonna be with a different person leading it. And something we have to remember is that extreme actions like this, they are born out of oppression, marginalization and abuse. And it's what happens when people feel like they have no other choice, they have no route to turn, when the system is actively working against them. And that's just something we need to remember. And like I said, and I think the last episode, I think we need to just be a little bit kinder out there. Just do one good deed. That's. That's your goal for the week. One good deed. And also, if you're in London, come and see me. Perform. I'm gonna try and drink some throat coats, so I want to make sure I still have a voice. London. I'm taking an extra day off of work this week for resting purposes. But anyway, I suppose. Do you want a recommendation? We should do a recommendation time. Why not? For reading, I'm gonna recommend smoke gets in your eyes by Caitlin dy, because it's. It's a morbidly funny read and you should. You should read it. For watching a Blackadder. Watch Blackadder. It's a great TV show. It's a classic. I'm recommending old things. You're just gonna have to suffer through it because this is a history podcast. And for listening. Ooh, Burning down the house. Specifically the Tom Jones Cranberries version, that is. That's a song. If you don't know that, enjoy. And yes, that is. That is. My recommendations for this bonus episode, catch me on the socials. And if you want to donate to any of the birthday stuff, because it's my birthday month, go do that. If you want to come see me in London on Saturday, get your tickets. There's a few left. And I will see you there. And yeah, have a good day. Evening. If you're going to a Guy Fawkes night, show me your sparklers. I can't help myself, so I'm gonna say adios. Au revoir. Au vuit, Azerre, my friends. Bye Bye. Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.
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For centuries, colonization has fractured our relationship with the land. We've come to position ourselves outside of nature, as observers and masters of it, as if it were ours to control and bend to our will. But the earth pushes back, reminding us otherwise. I'm Leah Thomas. I'm the founder of the nonprofit Intersectional Environmentalist. And I'm excited to be returning as your host for season four of as she Rises. This season, we're exploring rewilding. We'll hear how communities are letting the land lead and reimagining what it means to truly coexist with the natural world. Subscribe now and listen to this season of as she Rises.
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Wherever you get your podcast. Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.