Cinco De November
It's Guy Fawkes Day. To most Americans, this means nothing. And, as an American, I have no idea how big a deal it is in England.
The plot was by Catholics against a Protestant, and for some time the holiday had an anti-Catholic cast. I assume that attitude is long gone. But I wonder what people in the UK think of the holiday. Are they happy James was saved, or do they not care? Or do they now think maybe we need a little more anarchy in our lives.
Which brings us to the resurgence of Fawkes. Thanks to the comic V For Vendetta, and the movie that followed, the Guy Fawkes mask has become a symbol for anarchists and other who fight against the authoritarian state. Sort of an ironic win for the original plotters.
posted by LAGuy @ 9:43 AM
1 Comments:
James gave a powerful speech afterwards that was important enough to appear in some of those historical "Sources" books that undergrad history majors dread. In a nutshell, he said that not all Catholics are wicked, because many of them don't realize that their Church supports sedition and regicide. But those Catholics who actually understand their Church's teachings and yet remain members should be considered treasonous.
Obviously I don't agree. But I have to pity James: when he was 13 months old he was taken away from his mother (Mary Queen of Scots) because she was Catholic, and raised to despise her. She was executed when he was 20, and while he seems to have been conflicted about that fact, he soon pledged his support to Queen Elizabeth, his mother's executioner, in return for being promised the English throne after Elizabeth died. (He was already King of Scotland.)
Even before Guy Fawkes, there were several plots by Catholics to overthrow James after he became monarch of both nations in 1603.
Deciding which side was to blame seems a fruitless exercise. Obviously, the English Catholics who tried to overthrow James were traitors by any definition. But as James was continuing the policies of Elizabeth -- who had executed plenty of Catholics, including one housewife who was crushed under heavy stones for harboring fugitive priests in her home -- the Catholics felt they were merely defending themselves from persecution. But of course, Elizabeth was arguably reacting to her predecessor (and sister) Queen Mary, who executed lots of Protestants. And she was arguably reacting to their father, Henry VIII, who had executed Catholics himself.
Presumably during this era there were also some folks who said "Maybe we should allow everyone to pick his own religion, and not persecute people for their religious beliefs. But before the mid-1600s, I honestly can't think of anyone who held such a radical idea.
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