Rewind the calendars back to 1605 and in particular the 5th of November, a day that has become engraved in British history as Bonfire Night. Many remember it as the day of the Gunpowder Plot, which if it had succeeded would have blown the Houses of Parliament sky high. But what was the reason for it?
In the 1530’s / 1540’s Henry VIII broke away from Rome and made himself head of the English Church. This was the beginning of many decades of religious intolerance, in which Catholics faced much persecution. The country became divided in 2; the Catholics and the Protestants. To combat this increasing divide, Henry’s daughter Queen Elizabeth I made the rule that anyone appointed to a public station or a place in the Church had to pledge allegiance to the monarch as the head of the Church and state. Anyone refusing do so faced severe penalties; fines, imprisonment and or execution. Catholics suffered greatly under this regime and despite the threat of torture and execution many continued to practice their faith in secret.
When Elizabeth died, she left behind no successor to the throne, and refused to name an heir. Mary, Queen of Scots (Elizabeth’s cousin), who was a Catholic had been executed for treason in 1587 and many people thought that her son James VI of Scotland had a strong claim to the English throne. When he became king in 1603 many Catholics thought their fortunes would change. Initially that is how it was, James relaxed the laws put in place by Elizabeth. As numbers of religious demands grew James became highly displeased at the increasing strength of the Catholics. In such a situation, the king, in an attempt to accommodate as many views as possible, expressed his ‘utter detestation’ of Catholicism and once again the country entered an age of hostility against Catholics.
Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot…
It was because of this religious persecution that a few Catholic men decided to blow up parliament. Approximately 36 barrels of gun powder were placed under the building. But before the plan could be executed, an anonymous letter was handed to the king that contained the details of the plot. A search was carried out of all the cellars in the palace, and Guy Fawkes was discovered with the gunpowder.1
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I was speaking to Bubblegum a few weeks back and she reminded me of a film that is based around the concept of the gunpowder plot. It is set in the futuristic landscape of fascist England, where the country is full of torture cells, unfair / disproportionate punishments, prejudice against minorities and censors on everything that happens, and on everything that is done or said which may have negative repercussions on the ruling party. The film begins with the explosion of the Old Bailey (the Central Criminal Court in England), in particular the statue of Justice, orchestrated by a vigilante that wears a mask of Guy Fawkes and is known only by the name of V. This act is quickly hushed up by Norsefire in a statement to the public calling it an improvised emergency demolition, but behind closed doors the discussions are different:
The new Old Bailey will become the symbol of our time and the future that our conviction has rewarded us… This is a test. Moments such as these are matters of faith; to fail is to invite doubt into everything we believe and everything we have fought for. Doubt will plunge this country back into chaos and I will not let that happen.2
The very next day, V takes over the television network and exposes the lie to the whole state in an attempt to get the country to rise against the crimes of the government in an inspiring speech:
Click here to watch the video on YouTube (couldn’t embed it)
It is his master plan for the 5th of November, he wishes to blow up the Houses of Parliament as a symbol of ending the oppressive rule of the Norsefire party. He says:
People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people… The building is a symbol as is the act of destroying it. Symbols are given power by people. Alone a symbol is meaningless and with enough people blowing up a building can change the world.3
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A wild wind is spreading through the Middle East as I write, blowing life into countless souls that lay helplessly dead under the shackles of oppression, corruption and confinement of ideas, talent and speech. Voices that were locked behind bars of fear, unwilling to question the powers above, began to speak out, collectively getting louder and louder till they became like the unstoppable force of the roaring ocean. The governments tried to crush the initial murmurs, but in the same way a small stone can cause such unrest on the surface of a calm pond, each and every death galvanises those in search of freedom so much so that the false calm that was apparent to the uncaring world is being replaced by the blood of innocent people. In the world today as the prices of basic amenities rise, the only thing that seems to depreciate in value is the cost of human life, and in some places it has become the cheapest thing there is.
Symbols were there for all to see. In Iran, Neda Soltan became the face of thousands of people in support of the Green revolution after she was shot dead because she wanted freedom and a government that cared. In the disturbing video of her last moments, that caused an uproar among the population, she looks up at the camera, as if to ask, “What was my crime?” In Tunisia, what did Mohamed Bouazizi know that his act of setting fire to himself in public after being unable to sell vegetables without permission, would bring together a nation to take a step towards smelling the beautiful fragrance of freedom?
People will die, it is inevitable, but what the governments should remember is that they will never kill hope. From generation to generation, it is passed down behind closed doors and in secret gatherings. No matter how hard they try, the fire can not be extinguished. Hope is not a mortal, it is not bound by time, or flesh or blood.
To end this post I wish to share with you one of the final few scenes from the film, V for Vendetta, which is about exactly what I have just mentioned:
Why won’t you die? click to watch on YouTube (couldn’t embed it)
I only talk to God
When somebody’s about to die
I never cherished freedom
Freedom never cries
You can cry for her, die for her
Lay down your life for her
Kiss and wave goodbye to her
Anything at all…4
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Title: Viva la vida – Coldplay
Picture 1, showing newspaper cutting about the gunpowder plot taken from here
Picture 2, showing an old drawing of Westminster Palace taken from here
Picture 3, showing movie poster for V for Vendetta taken from here
Picture 4, showing a scene from V’s speech taken from video here
Picture 5, showing the final fighting scene taken from video here
1Adapted from the BBC History, here
2Chancellor Sutler to giving advice to his workers
3V explaining his motives to Evey
4Freedom never cries – Five for fighting.
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