On Nov. 5, Brits get together to commemorate the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. They build a bonfire which they dance around. They sing chants and shoot off fireworks. They shout this poem: Remember, remember the firth of November / The gunpowder treason and plot / I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason / Should ever be forgot.” The climax is the burning of an effigy of Guy Fawkes. Who was this dude? After Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church to create the Anglican Church in 1534, it was difficult being a Catholic in England. At times, they were persecuted. By 1605, some of them had had enough and plotted to overthrow the monarchy. A rich Catholic named Robert Catesby developed a plot to blow up the House of Lords. They needed an explosives expert and they found one in Guy Fawkes. Fawkes was a converted Catholic who had gone off to fight Protestantism for the Spanish in the Netherlands. Catesby recruited him. Fawkes was in charge of placing 36 barrels of TNT in a basement adjacent to Parliament. The plan was to blow up the House of Lords when the King James I, the royal family, and most of the leading nobles were there. Unfortunately for Guy, one of his co-conspirators ratted him out because he learned that there would be Catholics killed in the explosion. About to light the fuse, Guy and his helpers were arrested by the authorities. King James gave the green light to torture him, but Guy held out for a few days. When he was put on the rack, he gave the names of the other men who had been arrested with him. He was hanged and his head was put on a stake. Ever since then some British have celebrated his demise and the preservation of their monarchy and Protestantism. Plus, it’s a good excuse to get drunk.
– Amazing 288-290
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