Noble Blood - Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November...

Episode Date: January 10, 2023

After the reign of Elizabeth I, Catholics in England were hoping their next monarch would be more leniant with them. But when James I turned out to continue his predecessor's intolerant policies, a small group of men gathered in an inn to take action. JOIN THE PILGRIMAGE TO CORNWALL! Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and pre-order its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot.

But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, The cat, just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck.

Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of IHeart Radio and grim and mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. Hey, everyone. This is Dana Schwartz. Happy 2023. Just a few quick pieces of housekeeping before we dive into. this week's episode, there are still a few spots available on the tour I'm co-leading to Cornwall

next summer. It's a tour focused on Daphne de Morier and the book Rebecca, which is one of my all-time favorites. And we're going to be staying at this gorgeous house in Cornwall and just spending a few days talking about the book and reading and walking and writing. I did one of these trips last year about Frankenstein. And it was just such a phenomenal experience to like get a break from technology and work and, you know, in touch with my creativity and what I love about talking about books with people. It's just such a phenomenal opportunity. I immediately begged them to let me do another, and so that's how the Rebecca Pilgrimage came along. So if it's something you're interested in, the program is called Common Ground. I'll put a link in the bio,

but it's just phenomenal. And I think if you listen to this show, you'll get a lot out of the experience. Also, my novel Immortality, A Love Story, comes out February. and I know this is the most annoying thing in the world, but publishers just tell me as not their pre-orders are like the most important thing that books need. It just determines their entire future. So if you read Anatomy or, you know, even if you haven't read Anatomy, which is the first book in the series, check out Immortality a Love Story that link is in the bio too.

You can support the show on Patreon for episode scripts and monthly bonus episodes. And you can get merch. also in the episode description. I think that's all the housekeeping. It's the holidays here. I'm recording this before Christmas, and my kitchen is just filled with so many cookies. My brain has fully leaked out of my year.

So I think that's everything. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you all are having a really wonderful new year. On the southern tip of England, the small county town of Lewis in East Sussex sits with its charming antique shop-lined streets and variety of local medieval architecture at a population of just under 18,000. I once took a train out of there. It was lovely. On an average day, the sleepy English

Hamlet welcomes the occasional tourist, those catching a train to London like me, or those hoping to catch a glimpse of any of Lewis's numerous historical sites, like Lewis Castle, or, for the more royally inclined, the Anne of Cleve's house, which, though she never technically lived in, was given to her in the settlement following her divorce from Henry V. But every year, come November 5th, Lewis finds its usually empty streets, suddenly overflowing with a sense of restless anticipation as the population skyrockets from 18,000 to upwards of 60,000, people. Some dressed in period costumes, others simply carrying pockets full of fireworks, but each and every one of its visitors holding the singular intent of watching the town

engulfed in flame by the night's end. Though I feel it is important to note the sudden influx of people are not attempting to set fire to the city itself, but rather watch as revelers race barrels of tar down the high street, then turn various parade floats into effigies, all before gathering to witness the main attraction, the attraction for which the knight is named, the lighting of the legendary bonfire. In Great Britain, Bonfire Night, otherwise known as Guy Fawkes Night, is the annual commemoration of the discovery and eventual thwarting of the gunpowder plot, or the plan to blow up Parliament on November 5, 1605. If you are a UK listener, you likely grew up hearing all about Guy Fox,

and his co-conspirators failed plot to essentially overthrow the Protestant-led crown and establish a reigning British Catholic government in its stead. But on this side of the pond, knowledge pertaining to the real-life man behind the now infamous Guy Fawkes Mask typically begins and ends with the poem for which this episode is named. Remember, Remember, the 5th of November, the Gunflout or Treason and Plot, which really only came into general public consciousness following the release of the graphic novel and subsequent anarchy-fueled film V for Vendetta.

But before Bonfire Night became an excuse to exhibit impressive arrays of pyrotechnics, the holiday was originally a motion passed through Parliament called the Observance of 5th November Act 1605, otherwise known as the Thanksgiving Act, which decreed, quote, ministers in every cathedral and parish church, or other 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, end quote, which basically translates into a government-sanctioned church service that forces citizens to remember the failed attempt to overthrow the government. Hardly a call to anarchy as laid out in V for Vendetta. But V for Vendetta aside, the festivities that have been

taking place in Lewis on November 5th every year don't exactly scream government-sanctioned day of prayer and remembrance either. Though burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes and throwing firecrackers at a man dressed as the Pope are, well, arguably problematic in their own right, admittedly somewhat on brand for the occasion, having parade goers dressed in costumes running the gambit from British suffragists to frankly racist portrayals of Native Americans and Zulu warriors make it clear that somewhere in the last 400 years, celebrations of the holiday seem to have lost the, pardon my pun, plot. Even outside some of the questionable traditions, the current form of the holiday, the it holds, between the pro-anarchy sentiments of V for Vendetta and the growing popularity of the

Guy Fox masks use in popular culture, particularly on the internet, it seems as if the words remember-remember the 5th of November have almost begun to take on a meaning of their own, one that glorifies rebellion in general, rather than in a way attached to one specific, very capital, and Catholic plot, which begs the question. On a holiday which prides itself on lighting bonfires and setting off intricate fireworks displays to commemorate the day Parliament did not go up in flames, what exactly is it that were meant to remember on the 5th of November? I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood. In the over four centuries, since the gunpowder plot was foiled,

people are quick to remember Guy Fawkes and the 36 barrels of gunpowder he laid under the floors of Parliament, but they often forget the reasons why Fox and his co-conspirators even orchestrated their attack in the first place. So, in that vein, we need to take a step back from the failed plot in 1605

and instead look to the events that would eventually inspire their inception. the first of which took place in 1527, when King Henry the 8th sought permission from the Pope to annul his marriage from his first wife so he could pursue the woman who would become his second wife, Anne Boleyn. The Pope's ultimate refusal to grant King Henry's annulment would go on to act as the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation in England, or King Henry the 8th's decision to leave the Catholic Church and attempt to convert the whole, of England to Protestantism and declare himself supreme head of the Church of England. Now obviously, the Protestant Reformation and the subsequent decades and centuries of strife

between British Catholics and Protestants is not something I can feasibly cover in the brief time we have today in this episode in which it's backstory, but for the sake of this episode, you should know that just over 30 years after that, when King Henry VIII's daughter, Queen Elizabeth, ascended to the throne in 1558, she was still very much actively dealing with the repercussions of her father's actions. Elizabeth was fresh off the heels of her Catholic half-sister Mary Tudor's reign. Elizabeth sought to reinstate the Church of England that their father had established, and she had to take decisive action to denounce all of the crown's ties to the Roman Catholic Church. This took the form of what we now call the Elizabethan settlement, which in broad terms

essentially made Protestantism the official religion of England with no room for arguments. Of course, it wasn't that simple. Queen Elizabeth may have been the governor of the Church of England, not the head, as her father had been, because, you know, she was a woman. But even she couldn't just snap her fingers and, will Catholicism out of Great Britain? For the largely uneducated lower classes in England, the loss of a religion that heavily relied on a working knowledge of Latin was not sorely missed, especially considering the substantial fines that were now enacted should they decide not to

attend the mandatory Protestant church services every Sunday. And after over a decade of back and forth between Protestant versus Catholic rulers since the death of Henry the 8th, following the rules laid out by the Church of England and not the Pope, was a sure way to prove their loyalty

to the Queen Elizabeth I. However, as you may have guessed, there were also those less than thrilled with the new, let's say, changes in management. In spite of the fines and possible jail time,

even death that might have awaited those unwilling to convert to Protestantism, there still remained a subsection of mostly upper-class citizens who firmly held on to their ties to the Catholic Church. They were called recusants, and following Pope Pius V's papal bull excommunicating Queen Elizabeth from the Catholic Church in 1570, recusants were essentially given free reign, to disregard any of her laws, or depending on one's interpretation of the Pope's words, even kill the, quote, pretended queen of England. And though the bull gave recusants the green light to continue their, now technically illegal religious practices in England,

the bull's language also carried something ominous in it for Catholics. The threat was simple. Should they obey any laws presented by the pretended queen of England, they too would face the same excommunication and therefore damnation that their queen had. And so stuck between treason and a hard place, recusants were forced to stay out of the crown's line of fire enough to continue practicing Catholicism, but not so much as to be misconstrued as obeying the laws set forth by England's pretended queen. Just a casual, decades-long stroll along a razor-sharp knife's edge. No big deal.

At least until March 1603, when the British Crown could no longer afford to ignore the imminent change that had long threatened to crest over the horizon. After 44 years on the throne, a now 69-year-old Queen Elizabeth was succumbing to what would be her final bout of sickness before her reign would come to its inevitable end. Similar to her modern-day namesake, Queen Elizabeth II, after such a lengthy tenure as sovereign, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth I. while, of course, unavoidable, seemed almost more unthinkable than the idea of someone knew on the throne. Of course, it didn't help that the line of succession was, once again, left in a state of limbo. The famed virgin queen obviously had no heirs for which to leave the throne, and even speculating as to who would succeed Elizabeth had led one prominent purestance.

leader to be imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1593 until he died three years later for treason. When Elizabeth finally lay on her deathbed in 1603, it seemed as if she was no closer to naming her successor. Elizabeth's reticence to officially name her successor was no doubt partially informed by the inevitable repercussions the choice would have on the state. of the Church of England after her death, which is why it came as somewhat of a shock that following her death March 24, 1603,

it was confirmed that King James I.S. The 6th of Scotland, son of the infamous Catholic martyr, Mary Queen of Scots, had officially been given the title, King James I of England. For the recusence, news of King James' ascension, to the English throne was a welcome beacon of hope after over 40 years of persecution at the hands of Protestant Queen Elizabeth. British Catholics believed James would show

practicing Catholics more leniency than his predecessor. And in the beginning, it seemed like their hopes weren't unwarranted. The execution of Catholic priests had become something of a common practice, but a letter written by King James records him wishing for their exile as an alternative, with him stating, quote, I would be glad to have both their heads and their bodies separated from this whole island and transported beyond seas, unquote. And while the keeping of heads attached to bodies is no doubt a heartwarming sentiment, sentiments alone do little to stop the harsh realities of religious persecution. British Catholics had held such high hopes

that their new king would be the one to reign in a new era of religious tolerance in England. But by February 1604, the actions of the new king were starting to outweigh their fondness for his beheaded Catholic martyr mother. Following his coronation in July 1603, King James sought to curry some goodwill with the British Catholics and declared his intent to pardon the fines against recusants

for the whole of the following year. But after only a few short months in late February, 1604, King James made a public declaration of his, quote, utter detestation of Catholicism, which was quickly followed up with the repeal of his order to pardon recusined fines. After almost half a century bearing the brunt of religious persecution in Great Britain, recusants did not take kindly to having the carrot of religious tolerance, King James had, so laxidastically, waved in front of their cage, suddenly ripped away.

Arguably worse than the strict ordinances enacted by Queen Elizabeth I, British Catholics felt betrayed by King James, a figurehead they had, after so long without, deemed worthy enough of putting hope into. In the wake of their new king's deception, most recusants simply went back to practicing in secret, accepting the loss for what it was. But on the night of May 20th, 1604, a group of men, decidedly not in this majority, sat at a small table at London's Duck and Drake Inn, finally desperate enough to take matters into their own hands. Now, contrary to popular belief, Guy Fawkes was not the sole perpetrator or even the leader of the gunpowder plot. He may have been sitting at that small table at the Duck in Drake that May evening, but like any good heist movie,

the plot's conception was the product of a team of very specific individuals, each of whom had their own roles to play. Starting from the top, we have our ringleader, the charismatic radical Robert Katesby. Young, handsome, and equipped with a larger than recommended dose of theological fanaticism, Catesby had an immediately likable, magnetic personality. Even after his death, when his name was all but synonymous with treason, one man described him as his, quote, loving kinsman and the only son that must ripen our harvest. In essence, the deadly combination of Catesby's charm

and his penchant for radical action made him exactly the type of person your parents probably would have used as an example, to lecture you on the dangers of caving to peer pressure, as in, just because Robert Catesby decides to jump off a cliff, you're going to jump off after him? In this case, the cliff in question was the House of Parliament, and Catesby wasn't planning to jump off it, so much as he was plotting to set off enough gunpowder underneath its floors to blow every living lawmaker and politician inside, including the king himself to kingdom come. And between Katesby's beguiling charisma and the sense of poetic justice in taking the

lives of the lawmakers responsible for their suffering in the very place the laws against them were made, it didn't take much for other men to jump after him off the metaphorical cliff. Sitting next to the fearless leader was a man who would come to be known as his second in command, Katesby's cousin, Thomas Wintour. Wintor would first hear of Katesby's plans in February 1604, upon a visit to his cousin's house in Lambeth, where he, Wintor, would stumble into a meeting with yet another person who ended up at the Duck and Drake that May. a renowned swordsman named Jack Wright.

But when Catesby first relayed the plan to his cousin, Wintor was not so quick to fawn over the idea of drastic action. Rightfully so, Wintor feared the negative repercussions that would no doubt plague English Catholics should the plot fail. If life for accusants was already a minefield of fines and warrants for arrest, what would their lives look like should the, quote, stroke at the root that Wintor characterized the gunpowder treason as fail? In spite of his initial misgivings, Kateby's tenacity would win out, and within weeks,

Wintor would be on a ship to the continent in hopes of recruiting aid from the Spanish to further their Catholic agenda in England. And though Wintor's request for support from Spain would ultimately be shot down, the trip had the unintended consequence of introducing Catesby's second in command to none other than the fourth man at the Duck and Drake that evening, the gunpowder plot's inevitable poster boy, Guy Fox. Guy, or as he was better known back then, Guido Fox, was perhaps the least connected to the actual plot itself. But that hardly means his role was inconsequential.

In the heist movie adaptation, Fox would be the quiet, unassuming man in the back, who, when questioned about his involvement, would suddenly open his jacket to reveal pockets lined with grenades, machine guns, and enough antithes. to take down a small army. In short, Guy Fawkes was the firepower, a role born out of years as a soldier fighting for Catholic interests abroad. Unsurprisingly, unlike Wintour, Fox had little to no qualms with the violent action set forth by Catesby. In fact, he, like the final man at the Duck and Drake that evening, was ready to take drastic action for the sake of Catholic life in Great Britain. The fifth and final seat at the inn was taken by a gentleman named Thomas Percy. Percy found his way to the table through his connections

to Catesby and Wright, but it would be his connections to the Earl of Northumberland that would make him indispensable to the gunpowder conspirators. He, like Fox, was tired of waiting for the lives of British Catholics to improve on goodwill alone. Upon sitting down with the four other men that evening, Percy's first words to the group took the form of a simple question. Shall we always, gentlemen, talk and never do anything? It was with that question in mind that the original conspirators began to formulate the beginnings of what would eventually become the infamous gunpowder plot.

Tucked away at their inconspicuous table in the Duck and Drake Inn, a small prayer book was passed through each of their hands as they swore oaths of secrecy in hushed tones, promising death and destruction for the sake of building a better world from its ashes. And as if they needed further proof of their good intentions, in the next room a priest had just finished holding a secret Sunday Catholic Mass. So with their secret plot for the greater good woven intricately between them, together the five men took the sacrament of Holy Communion, a sure sign that God himself was blessed.

the violent means by which they sought to achieve their righteous ends, especially as Catesby rationalized his plot to kill all the government leaders in Parliament, saying, quote, perchance God hath designed that place for their punishment. After departing from the Duck and Drake in May 1604, each of the men had vividly. vague planned set in place to help the plot move forward, but it wouldn't be until Thomas Percy received a promotion from the Earl of Northumberland that any real progress would begin to be made. In June 1604, Percy was given the title Gentleman Pensioner, which essentially made him one of about 50 bodyguards for the Earl of Northumberland. More importantly,

though, this new position gave Percy an excuse to find permanent lodging in London and thereby secure a base of operations for the gunpowder conspirators. As Catesby continued to recruit more recusance to their cause, Percy made the first steps toward planting boots on the ground by hiring Guy Fawkes as a servant under the alias John Johnson, which frankly sounds like. like a name made up under duress, then one carefully chosen to help conceal the identity of a man attempting to carry out a government coup,

but I digress. With John Johnson under the employee of Thomas Percy, in March 1605, enough funds were finally pulled together for the group to lease out a storage space close to Percy's London home, a storage space, which just so happened

to lay directly beneath the Palace of Westminster. Now, the idea of a private citizen being able to gain access to a storage space so close to a government building, let alone the House of Parliament, might seem peculiar by today's standards, but in 1605, the Palace of Westminster was by no means the space we associate it with today. Back then, the building was an assortment of private apartments, taverns, and other businesses that all co-existed within walking distance of each other. So while the idea of renting out a storage space underneath Parliament might seem completely infeasible today, in 1605, it was likely costly, but not impossible. And so, with the seller secured, the debtor.

definitely not suspicious at all servant John Johnson, then spent the following months sourcing gunpowder to fill the storage space. And by the end of July 1605, he had managed to gather 36 barrels of explosive ammunition and hidden it discreetly under piles of firewood. More than enough to, if not blow the roof off, Parliament, then at least condemn everyone inside to a fiery grave. Initially, Parliament was set to go back in session in late July, but an outbreak of the plague set back the date to the 5th of November, at which point the gunpowder conspirators could do

nothing more but sit and wait for their plan to finally come to fruition. Come October, the final pieces of the plot had fallen into place. The plan was simple. On November 5th, Guy Fawkes would light the fuse to set off the 36 barrels of gunpowder beneath Parliament, then flee to the continent to alert the Catholic leaders in Europe to the success of their coup. Meanwhile, Catesby and his followers would begin a rebellion in the Midlands with the purpose of capturing King James' daughter, Elizabeth, who they would then make the new Catholic leader of England. After over a year and a half of planning, the gunpowder plot was just days away from forever altering the lives of English Catholics across the country, altering history forever. That is, until the night of October 26th, when, unbeknownst to Kate's. be, a mysterious figure moved swiftly through London streets with a letter burning a hole in his pocket, a letter that would effectively cut their bombs fuse before Fox would ever have a chance

to strike his match. That's the end of part one of our two-part series on the gunpowder plot, But stick around after a brief sponsor break to hear about how the legacy of Guy Fox still affects us today. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with him one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings.

I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat.

Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Wode. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live and the Big Money Players Network.

It's Will Farrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day. And I was like, and dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah.

He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that.

There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Language like. history has the unique ability to appear as if it's set in stone, even though it's perpetually in a state of flux. One prime example of this is the use of the word guy in the English language, as in, hey guys, or look at that guy over there, which, if you haven't guessed by now, originates from the gunpowder king himself, Guy Fox. Today, the term, the term guy is more synonymous with man, or in the case of guys, a group of gender-neutral people at

large. But when the term was coined, its connotations were originally far less innocuous. In its first form, the word guy appeared in reference to the guys that would be burnt in effigy each year for bonfire night on November the 5th. Children would sell hand-drawn. made Guy Fox effigies fashioned out of old fabric and straw, then beg on the street, asking for pennies for the guy. The sale of guys on November 5th celebrations would eventually extend its definition from the singular effigy of Guy Fox to include all effigies, effectively labeling them as guys. This opened up the term to become less beholden to the man himself. subsequently leading to the word's second iteration, which acted more as an insult than a physical

object. By the 19th century, the word guy had mostly lost its connection to the former guy fox and was used to characterize a man who was undeservedly cocky or otherwise foolish in some way. Eventually, the term's negative connotations would fade, and the 20th century. would give birth to the term Guy as the general male descriptor we know today. Obviously, we witness the change of language every day, just in the use of slang alone, but I think it's worth noting that the rules of grammar and language by extension are not as rigid as we're taught to believe. Time gives the illusion that certain words have simply always existed, But if this specific piece of Guy Fox's legacy proves anything,

it's that language will always adapt to serve the world around it. Thanks for listening, guys. Noble Blood is a production of IHeart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Dana Schwartz. Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodman. The show is produced by Rima Il Kiali with supervising producer Josh Thane and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Vodom. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot. But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that.

There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.