Yesterday was Guy Fawkes Day.
The Moneychanger Franklin Sanders posted a quite succinct and well-written explanation of Guy Fawkes and the events which make the 5th of November important to remember.
Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason, & plot!On 5 November 1605 eleven men led by Guy Fawkes hatched a plot to return England to Roman Catholic obedience by blowing up the King and all the Parliament members on 5 November, packing 36 barrels of gunpowder under the Houses of Parliament. On 4 November the plot was uncovered, the conspirators arrested, & later tried, & convicted. Next January Fawkes & 7 other survivors were hanged, drawn, & quartered & their heads displayed on pikes on London Bridge. The next year Parliament established 5 November as a national day of Thanksgiving. Since then the English have celebrated with bonfires & fireworks. Onto the bonfires they toss effigies called “Guys”, and recite the other two lines of the verse I began above:
I see no reason why Gunpowered Treason
Should ever be forgot.The outcome for Roman Catholics was the opposite of what the conspirators had hoped.
Civil disabilities of Roman Catholics in England were imposed & not removed until the 1820s.
Interesting!