Remember, Remember...

This is a transcript for the We're All Stories podcast. The episode can be heard in all its glory here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1685008/9584232

Remember, remember

The fifth of November

Gunpowder treason and plot

For I see no reason

Gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy, 'tis our intent

To blow up the king and his parliament

Threescore barrels, laid below

To prove old England's overthrow.

By God's providence, he got catched

With a dark lantern and burning match.

Not just the famous opening from V for Vendetta, this is part of an old English children's rhyme. I am not sure exactly how old this is but I would hazard a guess, it's pretty darn old. This version I found in a book from 1857, which was reprinted from another book from 1792. And I would guess it is much older than that, probably pretty close to the actual events described. So it predates the movie. Just by a little bit…

So here recently those in the UK celebrated bonfire night. I hope anyone from across the pond had a fun and safe celebration. Today we are looking at the buildup to the events that inspired the holiday to prepare for next time when we look at that story itself. Now we have a lot of history to cover so I'm gonna dive right in!

parts of our story today falls in and around the battle of Pinkie, which we talked about in a previous episode. If you haven't listened to it yet, well why not? And if you have, you will have heard some of this lead up so bear with me.

Our story truly begins in 1527 when King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his first wife. Which seems like a legit reason to completely change the national religion of Britain so Henry does just that, splitting with the catholic church to begin the church of England with himself as head. Then he just has to ask the head of the church to make his divorce ok in a conversation that probably went something like this:

Henry: hello self, can you sanction my divorce?

Also Henry: why yes I can, you came to the right place! You are so devout and holy, you deserve anything you want!

Henry: Thanks self, you’re so wise! And such a snappy dresser and, have you been working out? Looking good!

Also Henry: Oh self, you’re embarrassing me! Do go on…

And this probably went on for some time. And just like that, Britain broke from the Pope and everyone was converted to the church of England.

Of course this whole matter was a little more complicated than that, but you get the idea. What Henry actually did in his initial Act of Supremacy of 1534 was to say that, as king, he was the highest power in the land. As such, the pope had no say over him. So since no one was above him, he was the only logical option for head of the church.

Despite all this, Henry remained a professed catholic balancing his catholic beliefs and protestant views.

A little later, despite his beliefs, catholic churches and monasteries were dissolved and stripped of anything valuable to fund Henry's extravagant lifestyle while tithes were likewise redirected into the royal treasury.

Those who didn't like this, often found themselves executed. It does seem like a lot of the outright persecution and executions, etc. were done more by Thomas Cromwell than Henry, though the King did not hesitate to get in on it when it suited him.

Now as you can probably imagine, not everyone was willing to throw their faith and hundreds of years of tradition at the drop of a hat, so what happened to them?

In response to these actions, many rose up in resistance, most famously culminating in the Pilgrimage of Grace of 1536-7led by Robert Aske. Which resulted in the leaders and some 200 deemed "rebels" being executed.

Ever the fair minded monarch, Henry was an equal opportunity executioner, executing a number of Protestant reformationists up to and including Thomas Cromwell himself who was beheaded in 1540.

After Henry VIII comes Edward VI. While Henry, despite his reforms, never gave up on his Catholic faith, considering himself a catholic right to the death, Edward on the other hand, despite his catholic origins, grew up in the Anglican Church, due in no small part to the influence of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, and was a firm believer. Though he never ruled fully, his reign falling under regency because of his young age, his strong, religious convictions shone through, continuing and intensifying the reforms began by his father.

Under Edward's reign we see the Catholic church in England virtually dissolved and financially ruined by continued and increased seizures and confiscations.

Cranmer oversaw the forced reformation of the church, making the switch compulsory. The country was divided into two main parties, the pro Catholics, and the staunch protestants that called for the complete destruction of the catholic church and all its teachings and traditions. Cranmer attempted to find a middle ground between the groups, creating an Anglican church that was a mix of Catholic and protestant, writing the Book of Common Prayer 1549, which laid out a uniform liturgy that Anglican churches were to follow. While recognizably protestant, the prayer book kept a number of Catholic elements.

This compromise pleased neither group and led to the 1549 Prayer Book rebellion which resulted in around 5,500 dead.

Cranmer rewrote and revised his Prayer Book, finishing in 1552. This version is still the base of Anglican church services to this day. Though it was not implemented right away. The movement lost steam when Edward fell terminally ill of a lung infection, possibly tuberculosis.

Edward's decline put his people in a panic because, since he had no heir, the crown would pass to his Catholic half sister Mary and would mean the end of the reformation. To block this, Edward appointed his young cousin, Lady Jane Grey, then only 16, as his heir.

Succumbing to his illness, Edward VI dies on July 6, 1553 and is succeeded, as was his wish, by Lady Jane. Who had a long reign from July 10th, 1553. All the way to July 19th of, umm, 1553. She was deposed by Mary, the same one Edward had tried to keep off the throne, after just 9 days in power, leading to her being known as the "nine days queen."

Mary took the throne, becoming Mary I and charged Lady Jane, her husband, two of Jane's brothers in law and the archbishop of Canterbury and writer of The Book of Common Prayer, Thomas Cranmer himself, with high treason. They sat in trial on November 13th, 1553 and were found guilty. Big surprise there.

Jane was sentenced to "be burned alive or beheaded as the queen pleases." At the time, burning was the punishment for women charged with treason. Though this sentence was commuted to imprisonment by Mary who understood that Jane had been a pawn and could therefore hardly be considered guilty.

Though initially Mary had intended to spare Jane's life, a failed rebellion led by Thomas Wyatt the Younger in January of 1554 ruined those plans. Jane's Father Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk and both of her uncles had been involved in the rebellion, sealing Jane's fate.

Because of their actions, Lady Jane Grey, she who had been queen for nine days, died by beheading on February 12th, 1554. She was only 16 years old. Also in the aftermath of this rebellion, Mary had her sister the protestant Elizabeth locked in the tower of London, despite her having had no connection to the uprising.

Mary, as I said before, was Catholic. When she took the throne, she issued a proclamation that, though she was catholic, she would not force any of her subjects to follow her religion. She then set about trying to restore the catholic church in England, while letting the Anglican church continue in peace. She abolished the reformation laws of her father and her half brother Edward, and repaired the relationship with the Pope, who welcomed England back into the papal fold.

She attempted to return the confiscated land and properties previously seized from the church, but was blocked by parliament.

The relationship with Rome repaired, despite her initial promise of leniency, Mary began enforcing Catholic Heresy laws against those who followed the Anglican faith. After being forced to watch fellow Anglican bishops burned at the stake, Cranmer himself publicly recanted and returned to Catholicism. This did not save him though as he too was burned alive as a heretic.

All told, 283 prominent Anglicans who refused to acknowledge the catholic church were rounded up and burned alive, earning Mary the nickname "Bloody Mary."

As a story podcast, I would be remiss if I did not mention that Mary I is considered one of the women behind the children's game Bloody Mary. Where a child is supposed to turn off the lights, stare into a mirror and say "Bloody Mary" three times. After the third time, Mary's ghost is supposed to appear behind the child. Sometimes the spirit is benign, appearing to sadly look around before departing. Other times, if the spirit is angry, she will gouge your eyes out with her spectral fingers, claw you face and arms to pieces, outright kill you or pull you into the mirror with her for all eternity.

Despite the discontent generated by these executions and strict policies, even within her own people, Mary persisted in her persecution of the reformation, leading those she had killed to become martyrs and a rallying flag.

Mary I fell ill in 1558, believed to have been uterine or ovarian Cancer, which was likely a factor in her inability to produce a living offspring as heir. Her compromised immune system made a flu outbreak later that year deadly for the Queen and she died on November 17, 1558. She reigned for only 5 years and was succeeded by her half sister Elizabeth, to become Elizabeth I.

Yes, Mary 283 people is a lot to have killed in her five year reign, though this body count of 283 pales in comparison to her father Henry's estimated 57,000 during his reign, not just those deemed heretics or rebels but those slain also included wives and close personal friends. Yet he is remembered largely as a well educated, renaissance king and his long list of marriages is seen more as quirky than anything else.

And Elizabeth, the Gloriana, is near idolized by history had some six hundred and forty to , I have it numbered as high as nine hundred and forty people executed including one hundred thirty priests and a further sixty for helping or harbouring them.

I have seen it argued that Mary was dubbed "Bloody" because she was a woman in an attempt to belittle her, though when we consider the popularity of Elizabeth after her, while it may have been partly because Mary was a woman, it seems likely it was largely her adherence to Catholicism in an overwhelmingly Protestant government that caused her reputation.

Moving on. Elizabeth had been the child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. When Anne was executed, Elizabeth had been declared illegitimate but the lack of progeny from Either of her half siblings who preceded her on the throne paved the way for her to rise to the throne despite this declaration of illegitimacy. When there is no one else, an illegitimate heir is better than no heir at all.

Her motto was "Video et taceo" I see and keep silent. This led to a rather tolerant reign. She was overall, rather careful not to rock the boat too much in any of her endeavours or policies.

Elizabeth was considered illegitimate by both Catholic and protestant churches. On the Catholic side, since the divorce between her father, Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon was not sanctioned, his marriage to Elizabeth's mother was not legitimate, so therefore Elizabeth was an illegitimate child. Conversely, in the Anglican church, since they recognized Henry's divorce and remarriage, and Elizabeth was only declared illegitimate politically AFTER the sentencing of her mother, the church didn't really care. Wanna guess which she felt more inclined to?

Elizabeth strived to walk a middle ground, standing in favour of her protestant allies while trying to be lenient and conscious of the needs of her catholic subjects. While attendance of Anglican services was mandatory, missing church was punishable by law, but services included even more catholic elements than previous versions and fines or punishments for missing were light. While pleasing her protestant advisers, she also kept the strictly anti catholic Puritans at bay, not allowing open persecution of her catholic subjects. On the matter, she said "there is only one Jesus Christ and all the rest is a dispute over trifles."

On February 25th, 1570 Pope Pius V excommunicates Elizabeth, declaring her illegitimate and as such a pretender to the throne, releasing her subjects from needing to listen to her, resulting in several conspiracies and assassination attempts, all of which were unsuccessful.

In answer to this, Elizabeth finds herself forced to take a harsher stance against the Catholics, forcing recognition of herself as the leader of both church and state, stripping the title and standing from anyone who would not swear to her as such. Harsher laws were put in place, forcing conversion to the Anglican church, enforcing religious uniformity, effectively outlawing catholic mass and adding stricter fines and punishments of recusants. Originally there was a fine for missing church of 1 shilling (about £12 or $16 American) but in 1581 it was raised to £20. That is around £8,111 now, $10, 839.45 in the US, every time you missed church. Just for the fun of it, In a recent poll, about 24% of Americans attend religious services, well, religiously. In the US, as of October 24, 2021, there are 333,543,077 people. That means citizens would pay around 870 billion dollars to the government a week, collectively. And that isn't necessitating a single religion or denomination.

In addition to these fines and the exile of priests, being one of the Jesuit priests coming in to serve Catholic citizens and promote Catholicism becomes a capital offense. As was harboring or aiding one.

Jesuits were specifically those Catholics belonging to the Society of Jesus, a sect originated by St. Ignatius Loyola in 1534 which was primarily focused on missionary work and education. So far as I can tell this term in this context is a little more broad than its strict definition and refers to any Catholic priest discovered in England.

In all, Elizabeth's reign was an enlightened one, her tolerance and leniency saw the rise of a golden age for Britain wherein creativity and exploration were celebrated. Being herself well educated and highly intelligent, she ushered in the celebrated Elizabethan age which gave us the works of William Shakespeare and Cristopher Marlowe as well as the adventures of Sirs Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh.

Being a celebrated virgin, she did not have any children. So after her death on March 24th, 1603, with the help of Robert Cecil and his machinations, the throne passed to her nephew, the young James VI, king of Scotland on July 25th, 1603 making him also James I of England, unifying the kingdoms of Scotland and England, as was seen in the battle of Pinkie episode. James became famous for his witch hunts and his reign also saw the beginning of Colonization of the Americas.

His reign becomes known as the Jacobean era and the age of enlightenment ushered in by his regal aunt continued in his reign with more from Shakespeare and the rise of Sir Francis Bacon, among others. James himself was highly educated and a writer in his own right, publishing a number of works and sponsoring the King James Version of the Bible.

James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been deposed in 1567 in favour of her son. Whereafter she fled to England in the hope she would be protected by her cousin Queen Elizabeth. Mary arrives in England in 1568 and Elizabeth, instead of offering safe harbour and support to retake the Scottish throne, views Mary as a threat to her own throne due to her popularity among English Catholics who viewed Mary as the true, legitimate heir to the throne. Mary became sort of a rallying cry for those discontented with Elizabeth's reign and rebellions popped up in her name, including a number of assassination attempts against Elizabeth. Elizabeth had Mary imprisoned and moved around from Castle to Castle around England, likely to make a rescue attempt less likely, or at least more difficult. It would be hard to plan a jailbreak in advance when you never knew one day to the next where the person you were rescuing would be. During this time, Mary reaches out to her son in 1584, suggesting a joint rule of Scotland as mother and son. She would bot try to change the state religion in Scotland and she would give up any claims to the English throne on the sole condition that she was released from captivity. Instead, James sides with Elizabeth against his own mother, condemning her to her fate.

In a bid to keep Mary from the throne, a bill was passed known as the Act for the Queen's Safety, saying if the queen was assassinated to the benefit of another person, say Mary, that person would be barred from the throne. It also stated the benefactor could be deemed guilty of treason by association. Remember this, it will come up on the test. Or at least later in the story.

One of these conspiracies that popped up was the Babbington plot. Their plan was to assassinate Elizabeth, rescue Mary, then a Spanish army would invade, winning Mary the English throne, bringing Catholicism back in vogue. Little did they know Elizabeth's secretary of state and spymaster Francis Walsingham and her chief advisor, William Cecil (Robert Cecil's father) had infiltrated their ranks with double agents and spies to entrap Mary, giving Elizabeth grounds to execute her unwilling guest.

With Mary being cut off from the outside with all correspondence forbidden, Walsingham and Cecil established a secret route for communication between the rebels and their would be queen. Then all they had to do was wait.

In 1586, after eighteen years' imprisonment, in a coded letter to Anthony Babbington, who along with John Ballard lead the plot, Mary gave her consent to the plan, authorizing the assassination and subsequent hostile takeover.

With this, Walsingham and Cecil had everything they needed. Ballard was arrested on August 4, 1586 and tortured. During his torture he gave up Babbington. The rest of the members were rounded up, charged with treason and conspiracy against the crown and sentenced to death by hanging, drawing and quartering.

On October 14, 1586 Mary who had been queen of Scotland was brought before the court and tried without legal council and without being allowed to view the evidence against her or be allowed to bring forth witnesses. And they completely ignored the fact that Mary was a foreign sovereign (remember England and Scotland would not be united until Mary's son James takes the English throne.) And as such, she was not beholden to their English court, nor could she be guilty of treason because she was not an English citizen. She argued that if this trial must take place, she should be heard in front of parliament and/or the queen herself, bot this lowly court. She was originally planning to refuse to attend this farce trial but was informed that proceedings would happen with or without her, so she decided it was probably in her best interest to show up, even if she didn't recognize their authority over her.

She adamantly and tearfully professed her innocence, that she did not know these conspirators and had in no way been in contact with them. She insisted "her" letters they said they had were forged or tampered with and if they were presented to view, this could quickly be ascertained but this was ignored. Despite her impassioned pleas, Mary, Queen of Scots was declared guilty of all all charges and sentenced to death, though this was put off by Queen Elizabeth.

In happier times, the two had shared some love and admiration with Elizabeth saying Mary was the daughter she never had and, as cousins, they were family. And there was that sham of a trial to consider. Also, considering that Elizabeth's own mother had been executed by beheading, sentencing another member of her family to the same fate probably left a bad taste in her mouth. But above all this, Mary was a queen. Having a foreign ruler tried and condemned to death in a common court sets a bad precedent to all royalty the world over. If it was shown that the royals were just mortals and beholden to the law just like everyone else, it left them open to be tried and killed themselves, weakening their power and hold on authority. They never knew who could be next.

Elizabeth at last gives into pressure from parliament and her advisors and signs Mary's death warrant.

On February 8, 1587, in front of a large crowd Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots gracefully walks up to the scaffold in the great hall of Fotheringhay Castle, a serene smile on her face. She is stripped down to her undergarments, a crimson petticoat, the colour of Catholic martyrs. She pays the executioner, forgives him for what he is about to do, then lays her head on the block.

The axe first comes down above the neck, at the back of her skull. According to most accounts, even then, likely in tremendous pain from the savage blow, she does not utter a sound bit those gathered say her lips were continuously moving, perhaps in silent prayer. The axe man tries again, this time hitting her neck but the blow was not clean and did not cut through. It took three tries before Mary who had been queen at last met her end and was parted from her head. Though it is said by those that were there that her lips continued moving in their silent prayers for a full quarter of an hour after the final blow was struck.

Given who his mother had been and that his own wife was catholic, when James was announced as heir, the Catholics rejoiced, believing their ordeal was at last at an end.

To this end, Everard Digby (remember that name) travels to Scotland before James takes the throne of England and promises the support of the Catholics in England in exchange for religious freedom, which James agrees to. On arrival in England, James reads the room and sees his new government is full of protestants who would be rather upset if these terms were kept so the new king reneges on his agreement and the anti catholic laws stay in place.

Initially, James seems to have been more lenient in his attitudes towards the Catholics despite pressure from his advisers in the opposition.

Among other things, James had inherited a war. The Anglo-Spanish war to be precise, and wanted to bring it to a close, striving for peace with Spain. This was achieved in August of 1604. Spain was catholic though and was appalled at the treatment of their brothers and sisters in faith and continually pushed for them to be given the freedom to worship in their own way while James was being pressured in the opposite by his advisors at home, pushing for stricter measures.

James tried to maintain a happy medium, not lifting the anti Catholic laws, but neither adding more. This changed in 1604 when he condemned Catholicism, calling it superstition and idolatry, and ordered all catholic priests out of England on pain of death.

James is often depicted as a weak, foppish imbecile but it seems to me he gets a bad rap. He was intelligent and educated, as I said before, and an accomplished writer. I think at least part of his reputation comes from his upbringing. I mean, he was placed on the throne at 13 months old. Since before he could remember, he was simpered at and pampered, his every want and need catered to, while his regents handled everything while he went where they told him to and said what they told him to say. When everything is handed to you from birth, and you constantly have someone telling you everything for you to parrot back mindlessly, it hampers cognitive development. Just look at how so many millennials who were handed everything as children and were taught to memorize test answers rather than actually learn turned out. Growing into adults who were completely unprepared for adult life and responsibilities. And so things went for a while, but that was all about to change.

This brings us up to Robert Catesby, leader of the Gunpowder treason so we will stop there to pick up next time.