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Gunpowder, treason and plot

[ by Charles Cameron — instance of religious terrorism, UK, Catholicism, Protestantism, Vendetta-the-movie, Anonymous, OWS, Pharaoh ]

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I am seven hours “behind” the land of my birth, but today would be the day on which to remember one Guy — named Guido in the image above — Fawkes, a terrorist whose religious and political sympathies were closely interwoven.

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Archbishop Cranmer‘s [dare I say, Laudable?] blog today has a poetic description of the event, a fine illustration:

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and some fascinating comments portraying both the event itself and religious terror more generally…

We have had four hundred years to “remember, remember” — should we remember, or should we forgive and forget?

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The mask worn in the movie V for Vendetta is a Guy Fawkes mask, now also associated with both the Anonymous group and the Occupy movement… and it shows up in all sorts of strange places…

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Pharaoh? Guy Fawkes?

Clear proof that if you connect too many dots, you may go what we Brits call “dotty”…

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 5th, 2011 at 5:44 pm and is filed under 17th century, 2011, ancient history, blogging, britain, Charles Cameron, counterpoint, egypt, history, insurgency, terrorism, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Gunpowder, treason and plot”

  1. Michael Robinson Says:
    November 6th, 2011 at 4:11 am

    Charles, "Bonfire Night" or "Guy Fawkes"  to us, in C18th. Boston "Pope Night" 

    In the mid-1700s, the 5th of November was one of Boston’s most popular holidays. On that day, apprentices and young men paraded through town with giant effigies of the Devil, the Pope, and current political scapegoats, demanding coins from householders and passersby.
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    At nightfall, Boston’s North End and South End gangs met in the middle of town and brawled. The winners hauled away the other side’s paraphernalia and burned all the effigies in a festive bonfire. In 1764 the event became so violent that a young boy was killed, his head crushed by a wagon wheel.  In the decade that followed, the 5th of November processions became closely linked to the town’s protests against Parliamentary taxes. That political conflict led to the American Revolution. Ironically, the Revolutionary War ended up doing away with the 5th of November holiday in America.
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    http://display.5thofnovember.us/

    For various contemporary accounts see J. L. Bell’s always informative Blog ‘Boston1775’
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    http://boston1775.blogspot.com/search/label/Pope%20Night

  2. Charles Cameron Says:
    November 6th, 2011 at 6:27 pm

    Michael, you’re a delight.

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