1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:07,880 Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey Listener discretion advised. 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: This is part two of our series on the Gunpowder plot. 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: If you haven't listened to last week's episode, you should 5 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: probably start there. On the evening of October twenty six five, 6 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: a man walked through the streets of London with the 7 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: weight of his treason jostling uneasily inside his coat pocket. 8 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: I like to imagine this man periodically grasping at the 9 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: same patch of cloth on his chest as he made 10 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: it through the throngs of Londoners casually strolling to their 11 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: Wednesday evening dinner lands, a minor heart attack ensuing each 12 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: time until he felt the envelopes reassuring crinkle underneath his 13 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: layers of outerwear. Though even as his fingers brushed against 14 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: the paper's edge, the letters contents likely kept the man 15 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: from feeling anything close to reassurance. The truth was the 16 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: man was carrying not one, but two accounts of treason 17 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 1: on his person. The first belonged to his participation in 18 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: the planned Catholic coup against the British Protestant government set 19 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: to take place in Parliament in just ten days, on 20 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: the fifth of November, the same plot that had a 21 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: man named Guy Fox overseeing thirty six barrels of gunpowder 22 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: underneath the floors of Parliament, just waiting for the order 23 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: to give the whole building and everyone inside of it 24 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: a fireworks show, the likes of which they had never 25 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: and undoubtedly would never see again. The second account of 26 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: treason was not against the British government, but against the 27 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: group behind the gunpowder plot itself. For in the rumpled 28 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: envelope in the man's jacket pocket was not information for 29 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: his co conspirators, but a warning for their enemy, whether 30 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: it was cold feet or a sudden burst of humanity 31 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: invading the man's conscience. The evening of October twenty six 32 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: found this man stalking the streets of London in search 33 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: of the servant to one Lord Monteagle. Later, when recalling 34 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: the encounter, the servant would only be able to characterize 35 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: the man who had stopped him as a quote man 36 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:10,520 Speaker 1: of reasonable tall personage unquote. In the centuries to come, 37 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: historians would come a little closer to establishing the man's 38 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: true identity. Could it have been Thomas Percy, one of 39 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: the five men who had first conspired to blow up 40 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: Parliament alongside Guy Fox and Robert Catesby at the Duck 41 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,840 Speaker 1: and Drake Inn in May six o four. If not him, 42 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: was there a chance this mysterious man wasn't even related 43 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,800 Speaker 1: to the plot at all? Was he just a courier 44 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: sent in someone else's stead, or is it possible, well, 45 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: did this man even exist? Maybe Lord Monteagle staged this 46 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: entire scene in his account to King James so as 47 00:03:55,640 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: to distance himself from the knowledge he had otherwise how 48 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: come to acquire. The truth will likely remain lost to history. 49 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: Who this man actually was walking through London with the 50 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: letter in his pocket, or whether he had even existed 51 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: at all, But the words of that letter, written in 52 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:23,839 Speaker 1: their hasty, near allegible scrawl, would be remembered long after 53 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: the mysterious man who stopped Lord Monteagal's servant disappeared into 54 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: the night. Quote, my Lord, out of the love I 55 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,919 Speaker 1: bear to some of your friends, I have a care 56 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: of your preservation. Therefore I would advise you to devise 57 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 1: some excuse to shift of your attendance at this Parliament. 58 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: For though there be no appearance of any stir yet, 59 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:58,479 Speaker 1: I say they shall receive a terrible blow. I'm Danis Schwartz, 60 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. Upon receiving the rumpled letter 61 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 1: from his servant, Lord Montagal wasn't entirely sure what to think. 62 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: On one hand, the late hour in which the note arrived, 63 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 1: in conjunction with the poor penmanship and odd channels it 64 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,160 Speaker 1: had taken to get to him in the first place, 65 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: all added up to something more akin to a prank 66 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: than a real warning. After all, who would be crazy 67 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: enough to actually conspire a terrible blow against the whole 68 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: of Parliament? Well, if you need a quick recap as 69 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: to exactly who was crazy enough to attempt to blow 70 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,599 Speaker 1: up Parliament, allow me to briefly bring you up to speed. 71 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: In response to Queen Elizabeth the First and King James's 72 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:00,480 Speaker 1: persecution of British Catholics in the late sixteenth and early 73 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: seventeenth centuries, a group of five Catholic recusants led by 74 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 1: a man named Robert Catesby, met in London at the 75 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 1: Duck and Drake Inn in May sixteen o four to 76 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,799 Speaker 1: discuss the beginnings of what would come to be known 77 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: as the Gunpowder Plot. Sitting at the table next to Catesby, 78 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,280 Speaker 1: where his second in command Thomas Wintour, the renowned swordsman 79 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: Jack Wright, a guardsman of the Earl of Northumberland, Thomas Percy, 80 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 1: and notorious explosive as expert Guy Fox. Together the men 81 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: agreed to plot an attack against Parliament and the King, 82 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 1: a plot which took the form of Thomas Percy acquiring 83 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: the storage space underneath the House of Parliament so Guy 84 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: Fox could pose as a footman named John Johnson, who 85 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: would then smuggle thirty six barrels of gunpowder hidden underneath 86 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: piles of firewood into its depths, to be set off 87 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: on the inning day of Parliament when the King would 88 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: be present November five, six o five, after which Catesby, 89 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: Wintour and Right would spread news of the King's death 90 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: in the Midlands, kidnapped the King's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, and 91 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: established her as England's next Catholic ruler. And while Lord 92 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: Montegal likely had no prior knowledge of the plot and 93 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: therefore questioned its authenticity, his servant held no such doubts. 94 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: As it happened, Monteagal servant actually had close family ties 95 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 1: to the family of one of the original conspirators, Jack 96 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: Wright the Swordsman. So when Lord Montegal eventually decided to 97 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 1: air on the side of caution and send word to 98 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: warn his colleagues, his servant had already sent word to 99 00:07:54,920 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: write relaying the betrayal within their ranks. Upon unreceiving word 100 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 1: from Right that they had been betrayed, Katesby and his 101 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 1: second in command, Win Tour, immediately tried to weed out 102 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: the trader in their ranks, but this proved to be 103 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: a flaw in their own design, because while Percy and 104 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: Fox had been left to deal with the practical measures 105 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: of securing a location for the gunpowder to be placed 106 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: to ensure maximum destruction, Katesby and win Tour had been 107 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: busy recruiting additional conspirators to help in the plot, and 108 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 1: by mid October the number of plotters had risen from 109 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:39,959 Speaker 1: the original five that had met at the Duck and 110 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: Drake to a sizeable thirteen. Of course, more help also 111 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,960 Speaker 1: meant more mouths to keep quiet, and if the letter 112 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:54,440 Speaker 1: was any indication, As the date of the attack drew closer, 113 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 1: at least one of the men began to get cold feet. 114 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: In the ten intervening days between the discovery of the 115 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: Monteagal Letter and the opening of Parliament. Chaos and panic 116 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: rose like a fog in the London streets. The leaked 117 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: letter caused tensions among the conspirators to run higher with 118 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: each passing day, until finally some of the newer recruits 119 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:28,319 Speaker 1: began to openly voice their doubts to Ktesby. In the end, 120 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: even Thomas Wintoor all but begged Ktesby to call off 121 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: the plot, but predictably, he couldn't be swayed. The end 122 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,559 Speaker 1: was near and he wanted to see it through, no 123 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 1: matter the cost. With the clock running down, on the 124 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: evening of November fourth, Ktesby and Wright rode off for 125 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: the Midlands, getting in position ready to enact the rebellion 126 00:09:56,320 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: that would follow the initial blow to parliam Mint, which 127 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,679 Speaker 1: would take place the following day. But back in London, 128 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:15,719 Speaker 1: authorities were already beginning to unravel their plans days previously. 129 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 1: On the first of November, King James became privy to 130 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: the contents of the so called Monteagle Letter, and by 131 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:27,719 Speaker 1: November four he had guards searching at the Palace of 132 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: Westminster for anything that could cause the letters ominous blow 133 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:38,199 Speaker 1: to Parliament. It was then that officials stumbled upon a 134 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: peculiar seller directly below the floors of Parliament, stacked Florida 135 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: ceiling with bundles of firewood. Upon this first inspection, authorities 136 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:54,080 Speaker 1: could find no reason for suspicion. While its appearance was 137 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: undoubtedly odd, there was no law specifically forbidding the storage 138 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:03,319 Speaker 1: of what likely seemed like an excessive amount of firewood. 139 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 1: In the sellers available for rent in the Palace of Westminster. 140 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 1: There was a man some sort of servant that happened 141 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: to be near the seller at the time of inspection, 142 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:16,839 Speaker 1: but this was similarly not cause for any overt sense 143 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:21,840 Speaker 1: of alarm. It was only after the inspectors left the 144 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:26,679 Speaker 1: scene that they discovered the peculiar seller in question belonged 145 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: to none other than Thomas Percy, a man who was 146 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:36,559 Speaker 1: coincidentally good friends with Lord Monteagle, and whose Catholic sympathies 147 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: were of relatively common knowledge. That friendship, for the record, 148 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:46,199 Speaker 1: is why some suspect the man who delivered the letter 149 00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 1: to be Percy or one of his servants working on 150 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: his behalf. That connection led the king to demand a 151 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:58,960 Speaker 1: second search of the seller, whereupon they happened on a 152 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: far more anister scene than they had uncovered during their 153 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: first investigation. When authorities arrived at the cell for a 154 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,360 Speaker 1: second time, the servant that had been present earlier was 155 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: there again, only now he had undergone a rather ominous 156 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 1: costume change. The servant, who identified himself as John Johnson, 157 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: was dressed in riding clothes, as if ready to make 158 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: a quick getaway. When searched, investigators found a watch and 159 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 1: long stemmed matches hidden in the folds of his cloak, 160 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:40,840 Speaker 1: leading them once again to take a look at the 161 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:46,079 Speaker 1: copious amount of firewood stacked in the cellar before them. 162 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 1: It was then that they discovered, underneath the bundles of 163 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 1: wood lay thirty six barrels of gunpowder, waiting for one 164 00:12:55,800 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: long stemmed match to spark the devastating blow to Parliament. 165 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:07,320 Speaker 1: By the early hours of November five five, the Gunpowder 166 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:12,079 Speaker 1: plot was one stiff breeze away from complete and utter collapse. 167 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:16,000 Speaker 1: The first call for arrest was for the man whose 168 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: name was on the lease of the gunpowder filled seller, 169 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: Thomas Percy. Unbeknownst to authorities, Percy was already well on 170 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 1: his way to meet Kateesby in the Midlands to help 171 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,720 Speaker 1: enact the second phase of their plot. But while Percy 172 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 1: rode to see what he believed would be the gunpowder 173 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 1: plots inevitable success all across London, the remaining conspirators were 174 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:45,920 Speaker 1: taking to horseback in a an altogether much less optimistic 175 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 1: and more panicked state of mind. With Fox in custody, 176 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,200 Speaker 1: the writing was on the wall. It was only a 177 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: matter of time before the authorities came barreling down their doors. 178 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: Following his arrest, Fox, known as John Johnson at this 179 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: point refused to give up his real name or the 180 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: names of his co conspirators. Instead, he calmly claimed that 181 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: the idea was his own. Refusing to show any remorse 182 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:20,240 Speaker 1: for his actions, he told his interrogators the devil and 183 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 1: not God, was to blame for the discovery of the plot. 184 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 1: After nearly two days of interrogation, on November six, King 185 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:34,080 Speaker 1: James finally ordered for the man who claimed to be 186 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 1: John Johnson to be taken to the Tower of London 187 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: to be tortured until he gave up information pertaining to 188 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 1: the failed attack on Parliament. Within a day of being 189 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,480 Speaker 1: put on the torture rack, John Johnson revealed himself to 190 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 1: be Guy Fox, and by November seven. The oath of 191 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 1: secrecy he had sworn at the Duck and Drake Inn 192 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: a year and a half prior had all but crumbled. 193 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: While Fox began to crack. Some hundred miles north of London, 194 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 1: Ktesby and his men were preparing for a final stand 195 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: of their own. By this point, Thomas Percy had managed 196 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 1: to find his kinsmen, but the joy in their reunion 197 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: was cut short after another conspirator delivered the horrifying news 198 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: of Fox's capture. The gunpowder hadn't gone off the Parliament 199 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 1: House and all those who were meant to be inside 200 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:39,880 Speaker 1: remained unharmed, and the recusant revolution they had been willing 201 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: to kill for was crumbling under their feet. But even 202 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 1: in the face of their inevitable failure, Katesby was nothing 203 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 1: if not consistent. Instead of fleeing, as many of the 204 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 1: other conspirators attempted to do, he decided to double down 205 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:02,200 Speaker 1: on the second part of their plan, spreading word that 206 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 1: King James had died and urging his Catholic brethren to 207 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 1: rise up and unite to place a Catholic leader on 208 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:16,200 Speaker 1: the throne. Unfortunately for Catesby, even the false news of 209 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:20,480 Speaker 1: King James's death could only seem to rally about forty 210 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 1: men to his cause, not nearly enough to stand a 211 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: chance against the hundreds that were preparing to ride out 212 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:36,720 Speaker 1: against them the next morning. On the evening of November seven, Exhausted, demoralized, 213 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: and chilled from trekking through the wet British countryside, Catesby 214 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: and his men built a fire and set up camp 215 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: outside hul Bish House in Staffordshire. With mud and damp 216 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 1: clinging to everything from their clothes to their supplies, the 217 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: men decided to use what little remained of their collective 218 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:04,480 Speaker 1: brain power to dry out their gunpowder next to an 219 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 1: open bonfire, which is how a little less than two 220 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: days later than planned, the Gunpowder plot conspirators finally got 221 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:19,000 Speaker 1: the explosion they had been waiting for. Unfortunately for them, 222 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: the blast took place approximately a hundred and thirty miles 223 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:28,919 Speaker 1: from their intended target. The explosion caused several of the 224 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: men present to suffer from burns of varying degrees. It 225 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,320 Speaker 1: blinded one of them, and left all of them with 226 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:41,479 Speaker 1: a significantly depleted supply of gunpowder with which to defend 227 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 1: themselves from the authorities who would reach them by the 228 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:49,400 Speaker 1: following morning, as the few remaining men who hadn't yet 229 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:54,400 Speaker 1: deserted and were relatively unburned enough to fight, gathered to regroup. 230 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: When they asked what they were to do, Catesby had 231 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:06,360 Speaker 1: but one answer, we mean here to die. At eleven 232 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 1: o'clock the next morning, the High Sheriff of Worcestershire arrived 233 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:14,919 Speaker 1: at Hulbush House with upwards of two hundred men, ready 234 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: to face off with Katesby's meager brigade. But for as 235 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: much firepower as the high Sheriff brought, the ensuing shootout 236 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:27,679 Speaker 1: was over in a matter of minutes. Of the five 237 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 1: men who had begun the gunpowder trees and all those 238 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,919 Speaker 1: months before at the Duck and Drake Inn, three of 239 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,880 Speaker 1: them would die on the grounds of hull Bush House 240 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: that morning. Thomas Wintour would escape death with just a 241 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 1: gunshot wound to his shoulder, but Jack Wright, Thomas Percy, 242 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:50,200 Speaker 1: and Robert Catesby were all struck down in the musket fire. Fox, 243 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:53,679 Speaker 1: of course, was in the midst of confessing after his 244 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: ordeal and during the torture rack in the Tower of London. 245 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: When they recovered Katesby's body, they discovered he had used 246 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,760 Speaker 1: his final moments to crawl toward a picture of the 247 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:10,160 Speaker 1: Virgin Mary, holding on to his beliefs as he passed 248 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 1: from one life to the next. In the coming weeks, 249 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:17,160 Speaker 1: Wintour and Fox would both be sentenced to death for 250 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:20,800 Speaker 1: their treason, and would both ultimately hang from a noose 251 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: in the Old Palace Yard at Westminster, mere feet away 252 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:29,280 Speaker 1: from the building they had attempted to destroy. Days before 253 00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:34,040 Speaker 1: their execution. On January twenty third, sixteen o six, Parliament, 254 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: under King James the First would pass the Thanksgiving Act, 255 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:43,400 Speaker 1: the yearly observance every fifth of November commemorating the day 256 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: the monarchy was saved from the group of Catholic recusants 257 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: who sought to blow up Parliament. Four hundred years later, 258 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:57,680 Speaker 1: that celebration would morph into the campy pyrotechnic display known 259 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,879 Speaker 1: as Bonfire Night that contin used to be celebrated annually 260 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:07,360 Speaker 1: every November five across the UK. Though the historical basis 261 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,760 Speaker 1: of the holiday stayed the same, the ways in which 262 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 1: it's now celebrated, and consequently what the holiday has come 263 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: to mean, have absolutely changed over time. What used to 264 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:23,200 Speaker 1: serve as an annual reminder of the day the monarchy 265 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 1: prevailed over an English Catholic act of terrorism has shifted 266 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 1: into a mostly secular holiday. But more than that, Foxes 267 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: legacy has shifted from universally hated villain to more rebel 268 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: we love to hate. The popularity of the Guy Fox 269 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: mask in pop culture and the resulting impact on his 270 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: legacy is just one example of the undeniable truth that history, 271 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,080 Speaker 1: no matter how hard we try to carve it in stone, 272 00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 1: will always be subjective. The legacy of the Gunpowder Treason 273 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: will likely continue to change, just as it has for 274 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: hundreds of years, but there is one fact that is 275 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: for certain. As long as it's fun to gather together 276 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:18,800 Speaker 1: and light things on fire, history will almost certainly remember. 277 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:31,240 Speaker 1: Remember the five of November. That was the end of 278 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,639 Speaker 1: our two part series on the failed Gunpowder Plot, But 279 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,160 Speaker 1: stick around after a sponsor break to hear a little 280 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 1: bit more about how Guy Fox's image has been used 281 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:52,119 Speaker 1: in the four hundred years since his execution. Even if 282 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 1: today was the first time you heard of the Gunpowder Plot, 283 00:21:56,080 --> 00:22:00,680 Speaker 1: chances are you've seen Guy Fox's face, or at least 284 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:05,399 Speaker 1: a version of it. A stark white face, slits for eyes, 285 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: prominent cheekbones, and inhumanly symmetrical facial hair that looks like 286 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:13,719 Speaker 1: it's been drawn on with a marker. The Guy Fox 287 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 1: mask is a staple at most Halloween stores, especially since 288 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:22,679 Speaker 1: v for Vendetta. Its distinct lack of humanity in a 289 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: face meant to embody the every man, or in this case, 290 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:32,640 Speaker 1: every guy, makes it all the more creepy, though in reality, 291 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 1: this may be more of a commentary on how Guy 292 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:41,320 Speaker 1: Fox's image has been replicated over the centuries, rather than 293 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:45,479 Speaker 1: an actual attempt to depict the real face of the 294 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 1: real Guy Fox. The truth is, while there are some 295 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 1: written accounts about Fox's appearance, any physical representation of his 296 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:58,880 Speaker 1: likeness are really just images that have been passed through 297 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 1: a few too many games of historical telephone, each iteration 298 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,399 Speaker 1: meant to make him more villain like than the last. 299 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: In Antonio Frasier's excellent biography on the Gunpowder Plot, she 300 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:17,400 Speaker 1: describes Fox as being a quote tall, powerfully built man 301 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: with thick, reddish brown hair, a flowing mustache in the 302 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,480 Speaker 1: tradition of the time, and a bushy, reddish brown beard. 303 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:31,640 Speaker 1: Historical prints of Fox border on cartoonish, but most portray 304 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:36,399 Speaker 1: him as tall and thin, with long, angular facial features. 305 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:41,159 Speaker 1: And a dubious looking mustache, all features I'd like to 306 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 1: point out that could describe more than a handful of 307 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:49,919 Speaker 1: classic childhood cartoon villains. The fact that artists have portrayed 308 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:53,600 Speaker 1: Fox in this way is not wholly surprising, after all, 309 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:57,480 Speaker 1: he is burned in effigy on a yearly basis, but 310 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 1: it does make the emergence of the Guy Fox mask 311 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: that much more intriguing. The Guy Fox mask as we 312 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:10,359 Speaker 1: know it today didn't really come into massive popularity until 313 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: after the release of the movie based on the graphic 314 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: novel Fifa Vendetta in two thousand five. Although the film 315 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 1: is a now relatively well known cultural touchstone, it didn't 316 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,680 Speaker 1: break any box office numbers. In fact, a comic con 317 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,680 Speaker 1: that year, Warner Brothers gave out free Guy Fox masks 318 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:33,359 Speaker 1: from the film to promote the movie. The result of 319 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: that promotion would be the birth of a meme on 320 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: four Chan in two thousand and six called epic Fail Guy, 321 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,400 Speaker 1: which showed a stick figure finding a Guy Fox mask 322 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:49,480 Speaker 1: in a garbage bin. From four Chan. The activist group 323 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:53,800 Speaker 1: known as Anonymous would adopt the mask to use as 324 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:59,080 Speaker 1: their face, spurring other protest movements to begin to use 325 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:02,359 Speaker 1: the Guy Fox ask as the symbol of anarchy and 326 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:07,840 Speaker 1: rebellion that the comic and eventual two thousand five movie 327 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: adaptation made it out to be in the first place. Frankly, 328 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,080 Speaker 1: there are so many layers to this, like how the 329 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,960 Speaker 1: Occupy Wall Street movement in two thousand eleven used the 330 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: Guy Fox mask, which was produced and sold by Time Warner, 331 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,439 Speaker 1: to embody an anti capitalist regime, or how Guy Fox 332 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: himself was not fighting for anarchy but for what has 333 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,120 Speaker 1: to be the least punk rock institution of all time, 334 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:38,720 Speaker 1: the Catholic Church. But ultimately, it all boils down to 335 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:44,840 Speaker 1: how Guy Fox's legacy has simultaneously continued to change over time, 336 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:49,200 Speaker 1: yet somehow it always remains sort of the same. The 337 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 1: rolls Guy Fox has embodied over the last four hundred 338 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 1: years have run the gambit from villain to anti hero, 339 00:25:57,040 --> 00:26:00,680 Speaker 1: but his characterizations were never meant to embody body who 340 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:06,600 Speaker 1: he was as a singular person. Instead, Guy Fox has 341 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,879 Speaker 1: always been the face of a group, whether it be 342 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 1: Catesby and his co conspirators or the entire anonymous organization. 343 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 1: The use of Fox's name in public discourse has always 344 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 1: been to condemn or celebrate the actions of a collective, 345 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:27,320 Speaker 1: not a singular man. It's enough to make you wonder 346 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:30,760 Speaker 1: what Guy would have thought about his legacy, if you 347 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,399 Speaker 1: would have resented being forever the face of a collective, 348 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:38,159 Speaker 1: or if he would have relished the sacrifice of his 349 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:43,879 Speaker 1: personhood in favor of continuing to represent something far bigger 350 00:26:44,240 --> 00:27:02,400 Speaker 1: than one person ever could. Noble Blood is a production 351 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:05,760 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Mankey. 352 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is hosted by me Danish Wortz. Additional writing 353 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:14,640 Speaker 1: and researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Miura Hayward, 354 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:18,440 Speaker 1: Courtney Sunder, and Laurie Goodman. The show is produced by 355 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: rema Il Kali, with supervising producer Josh Thayne and executive 356 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 1: producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more 357 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:32,960 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 358 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:34,959 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.