Guy Fawkes: Life and Politics - Term Paper Example

Guy Fawkes: Life and Politics Introduction: Terrorism is one of the major forms of social evils in modern context having a catastrophic impact on theentire world. There is a common consensus both among social scientists and the mass that terrorism is entirely an outcome of political upheaval prevailing in the modern social context. However, looking back into the history of Western social discourse we find several such instances that bear evidences of moderate to extreme acts of terrorism. The Gunpowder Treason (5th November, 1605) is one of the most conspicuous evidences of the fact that terrorism, influenced by different aspects of social life such as oppression and religious orthodoxy, has always existed in the world. The political activism of Guy Fawkes, also known as Guido Fawkes, clearly conveys that an individual always has an intention to establish his own understanding about society and politics. Sometimes, such understanding or conceptions take forms of orthodoxy, depending on which a person learns to believe that his method is ultimately beneficiary for the society and its inhabitants. Though development of such understanding is a cumulative and communal process, an individual attempts to rage against any of such policies that violates his own ideologies. A violent form of defiance of such ideologies ultimately gives birth to acts of terrorism, aimed against destroying all forms of socio-political mechanisms which the individual or individuals consider existing in contrary to their respective ideological observations. Such belief of Guy Fawkes and his associates led to planning of the Gunpowder Treason, by which they attempted to bring an end to rule of King James I and the new policies that he wished to implement for further development of the English society during the 1600s. Childhood: Guy Fawkes was born on April 13th, 1970 in York as the only son of Edward Fawkes and Edith Blake. Though his early childhood was quite simple, soon he encountered series of tragedies in the form of death of his father and secret remarriage of his mother in a catholic family (“Guy Fawkes, On the Trail of the Gunpowder Plotters”, 2). Though he was basically from a protestant family, he never really appreciated the protestant religious outlook since his childhood. It seems that the main reasons for his Catholic orientation were his upbringing and education at St. Peter’s School at York. During his education in this school he came into close proximity with several other students, some of whom, later on, became active participants of the Gunpowder plot. The phase of 1582 to 1593 was very important in the context of political activism and his aggression to defend his own cause during the later period of his life. It is during this time that Guy Fawkes relied entirely on Catholicism and regarded it as the only solution to bring harmony in the social and political backdrop of England. Adulthood and Involvement in Religious War: Guy Fawkes always wanted to be an active part of the religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants during the early 17th century. However, he did not have enough financial stability so that he can be an active member of the movement and put an end to the sudden upsurge of Protestantism. He had to wait until his 21st birthday, when he inherited certain land at the outskirt of York. Immediately afterwards, he sold his part and used the money “…to leave home and enlist in the Spanish army, fighting for Catholics against Protestants in the religious wars raging across Europe” (“Guy Fawkes, On the Trail of the Gunpowder Plotters”, 2). Soon his close association with the Spanish army helped him gain a deeper understanding about the art of warfare, strategy making and expertise in using explosives. He proved his worth in the Spanish army with excellent use of explosives against the opposition and earned appreciation of his fellow soldiers. Aftermath his return to Madrid and association with his school friends, namely, Thomas Winter and Christopher Wright in 1601, took him closer to planning of the infamous Gunpowder plot. Though the plot was actually a brainchild of Robert Catesby, who was a quite familiar figure among active Catholic activists in the contemporary times, but Guy Fawkes was assigned with the responsibility to use the explosives to kill the king as well as his associates, who took the leading step in implementing new religious policies in support of Protestantism. Guy Fawkes and other fellow conspirators had the plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament during its session. They even hired a cellar beneath the house, where they stored explosives and Guy Fawkes was assigned with the responsibility to flame the fuse. (“Guy Fawkes, On the Trail of the Gunpowder Plotters”, 2) Unfortunately, their whole plot was disclosed by an anonymous letter to the King James I and Guy Fawkes was assassinated in a quite brutal manner. After his assassination, parts of his body were displayed to different corners of the nation as a caution against those, who were planning to wage war against the Royal Authority. Contemporary England and struggle to achieve religious supremacy: Prior to 1530s, Catholic religious system dominated the entire socio-political backdrop of England. Pope, who was considered as the ultimate authority, often used monarchy as an avenue for establishing novel social norms and religious approaches. However, it is since the late 1400s and early 1500s that conflict between Christian Church and monarchy was becoming gradually conspicuous. Ultimately during the reign of Henry VIII, such conflict took the most explicit form as the King used his power to refute position of Pope in the social structure of England. At the same time, he also clearly announced that all those, who were loyal to Pope and Catholicism, would be banished and their loyalty will be considered as an act of treason against Royal supremacy of England. With such decline of Catholicism, Protestants received the opportunity to cater their religious philosophy among common people and also took a leading position in the socio-religious backdrop of contemporary England. For more than 2 decades King Henry VIII continued his oppression against Catholics, closing the Churches at different parts of England and banishing loyal followers of the Pope. Finally, after his death, emergence of Queen Mary as the supreme authority of England helped in restoration of Catholicism in England. However, during the rule of Henry VIII the kind of authority Protestants developed that cannot easily be eradicated. Automatically, it led to continuous struggle between followers of both religious disciplines and the entire English social system experienced a huge socio-political anarchy for a long period of time. After death of Queen Elizabeth, sister of Queen Mary, King James I became ruler of England and he again opted back to the policy of Henry VIII. Desperate efforts of the Catholics to gain back their position and put an end to the ruling of King James received a new enthusiasm due to the growing corruption in the King’s court. King James was actually the King James VI of Scotland and emergence to the throne of England provided his countrymen with the scope to obtain as much of wealth as possible. Finally exposure of this greed took such a violent shape that a large part of the English society completely became antagonist to ruling of the King as well as socio-religious approach. William Harrison Ainsworth has reflected over this historical background at the preface of his fiction Guy Fawkes: or, The gunpowder treason, “This was at a time when the jealousies between the two countries had reached a height …. Had the money been carried to the royal coffers, the recusants would have had sufficient reason to complain; but that Englishmen should be placed by their king at the mercy of foreigners, that they should be stripped of their property to support the extravagance of his Scottish minorities, this added indignity to injustice, exacerbated their already wounded feelings, and goaded the most moderate almost to desperation” (vi). Reflection over the contemporary social structure made it clear that conflict was not only confined within the realm of religious supremacy but it also has further extended to the level of social dignity among common English people. Clearly, orthodox Catholics made the King responsible for such social unrest and several of them clearly opined that end of his rule could be the only possible solution to such mishaps. During the reign of Elizabeth also, due to her patronage of Catholics, several attempts were made to put an end to her reign but she survived. Finally her expiry in the year 1603 provided King James I to hold the throne of England. In this context one fact is very important. Though the queen during her reign professed her belief over Catholic religious approach carefully prevented the Pope as well as several other forms of Christian authority to gain back their equal position with that of the royal authority in England. Naturally, such initiative from the queen played a major part in initiating attacks over her. Thomas Lathbury (1983) has observed, “There was a settled purpose at Rome, and, indeed, throughout the whole Romish confederacy, to dethrone Elizabeth and overturn the Anglican church; not is it a libel on the church of Rome to say, that in all these proceedings, she acted on recognised principles – principles which had received the solemn sanction of her councils” (12). Thus, if we think that Protestants were responsible for repeated attack over the queen that would be wrong because orthodox supports of Catholicism were actually responsible for such attacks over body politic. The Gunpowder Treason: Keeping this fact in mind it can be said that conspiracy of Guy Fawkes and his companions was actually aimed at eradicating anything and everything that would come in the path of Christian Catholic religious supremacy. The Gunpowder conspiracy commenced much early than it was actually materialized. After his return to Madrid in 1601, Guy Fawkes met other members of this conspiracy and since that time onwards they were planning to put an end to monarchial rule in England. During that time Queen Elizabeth was holding the throne of England. It seems that if the Queen would have survived till the time of explosion, instead of King James I, she would have been target of the assassins. Confessions retrieved from conspirators actually prove the truth behind such observation, “It was certain … that a plot was in agitation before the death of Elizabeth, being managed by some of those individuals who were impatient of waiting the course of events on the queen’s death. The confessions and examinations of the conspirators show that the powder plot was partly contrived before James’s accession” (Lathbury 12). King James, as the conspirators realized, was perhaps the only obstacle in the path of Catholicism to receive complete hold over social and political system of contemporary England. Moreover, it was also realized that if the King can be ended along with his counselors, people will fear their plight if they wish to go against the power of the Church and catholic approach. Thus, conspirators realized the importance of giving such massacre a devastating form and an explosive expert like Guy Fawkes as well as an ardent supporter of Catholicism became an essential instrument in their hands, “He appears to have been a bold and daring adventurer, as well as a gloomy bigot to the worst principles of popery; and was, in consequence, deemed by Catesby to be a suitable instrument for his purpose” (Lathbury 21). It must be admitted that Guy Fawkes and other fellow conspirators planned their attack over the King and his counselors in a quite excellent manner. They slowly judged the entire situation and all the loopholes that they can capitalized over to ensure success of their mission. The Houses of Parliament or the Protestant House of King James I was completely secured and there was almost no flaw in the entire security system as supporters of the King were apprehending attack over him. However, despite all these precautions the conspirators managed to hire a cellar beneath the Parliament House, where they stored huge amount of explosives and Guy Fawkes was provided with the responsibility to set it aflame at the right point of time, “In a cellar beneath the House of Lords, his captors discovered thirty-six barrels of gunpowder. Fawkes was carrying certain incriminating items: kindling, a fuse, a lighted dark lantern, and a watch” (Christenson, 130). Their entire planning was perfect could have been successful unless an anonymous letter reached to the King, carrying detailed information about the blast on 26th of October, 1605 (Christenson 130). After Guy Fawkes was caught, he did undergo two days of tremendous physical torture and finally he was compelled to reveal names of all his associates, who were trying to escape after the whole conspiracy was exposed. While interrogated Guy Fawkes and other members of the Gunpowder conspiracy claimed that their action was actually generated from their quest to end up the battle against supremacy of Catholicism, “… Fawkes and colleagues justified their actions in terms of religion. Like other instances of “holy terror”, the Gunpowder Plot was deeply rooted in events that had occurred long before …. Fawkes and his co-conspirators incorrectly believed that Catholics in England would rise up against the government after the bombing of Parliament. Like many other terrorists throughout history, Fawkes grossly misjudged the mood of others of his religion, most of whom were content to keep their religious practices secret and swear obedience to the monarch in public” (Griset and Mahan 3-4). It becomes clear from such observation that despite their belief over Catholic supremacy, the conspirators lacked proper support from the public. At the same time it also raises the question that even if the entire process would have been complete, it could not, perhaps, resulted in rejuvenation of the Catholic power in England. The main reason being continuous oppression of the monarchy against believers of Catholicism injected such fear in the public psyche that it could have been quite tough for them to triumph over such fear. At the same time disclosure of their plan to the monarchy clearly shows that they did not receive a great deal of support from the people also. Fawkes was quite well aware about the kind of torture that they were destined to encounter if they were captured. Due to this reason he attempted to kill himself during the process of his execution but failed (Martin 8). Ultimately, through brutal execution of Guy Fawkes and his associates in the Gunpowder Plot, the monarchy asserted its supremacy over religious orthodoxy in a stronger manner and people, having antagonistic approach against the King once more witnessed horrid consequences of betrayal against monarchy. Works Cited Ainsworth, William H. Guy Fawkes: or, The gunpowder treason. Oxford: Oxford University, 1857. Christenson, Ron. Political trials in history: from antiquity to the present. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1991. Lathbury, Thomas. Guy Fawkes: or, a complete history of the Gunpowder Treason, A.D. 1605 : with a developement of the principles of the conspirators, and some notices of the Revolution of 1688. London: J.W. Parker, 1983. Mahan, Sue, Pamala L. Griset. Terrorism in perspective. London: SAGE, 2003. Martin, Gus. Understanding terrorism: challenges, perspectives, and issues. London: SAGE, 2006. “Guy Fawkes On the trail of the Gunpowder Plotters.” July 2005. First Stop York tourism partnership. 15 November 2009. Read More