Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November...

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 the 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 two. 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 a 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 Louis in East Sussex sits with its charming antique shop line streets, and variety of

local medieval architecture. At a population of just under eighteen thousand. 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 Louis's numerous historical sites like Louis Castle, or for the more royally inclined, the Anne of Cleave's House, which though she never technically lived in, was given to her in

the settlement following her divorce from Henry the eighth. But every year, come November five, Louis finds its usually empty streets suddenly overflowing with a sense of restless anticipation as the population skyrockets from eighteen thousand to upwards of sixty 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 in the high Street, then turn various parade floats into effigies, all before gathering to witness the main attraction, the attraction for which the night is named the lighting of the legendary bonfire.

In Great Britain, Bonfire Night, otherwise known as Guy Fox Knight, is the annual commemoration of the discovery and eventual thwarting of the Gunpowder Plot or the plan to blow up Parliament on November five, six oh five. 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 instead. But on this side of the pond, knowledge pertain meaning to the real life man behind the now infamous Guy Fox Mask typically begins and ends with the poem for which this episode is named. Remember remember the fifth of November, the gunflowder, 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 Fifth November Act six oh five, 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 fifth day of no member, same 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 Louis on November five every year don't exactly scream government sanctioned day of prayer and remembrance either, though burning in effigy of Guy Fox 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 amor Amricans and Zulu warriors make it clear that somewhere in the last four hundred years, celebrations of the holiday seem to have lost the part in my pun plot. Even outside some of the questionable traditions, the current form of the holiday holds between the pro anarchy sentiments of VFA 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 fifth 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 Catholic plot, which begs the question, on a holiday which prides itself on lighting bonfires and setting off intricate fire works displays to commemorate the day Parliament did not go up in flames, what exactly is it that were meant

to remember on the five 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 Fox and the thirty six 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 six five and instead look to the events that would eventually in fire their inception, the first of which took place in fifteen twenty seven, when King Henry the Eighth 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 Eighth'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 confeasibly 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 thirty years after that, when King Henry the Eighth's daughter, Queen Elizabeth, ascended to the throne in fifteen fifty eight, 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 crowns 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 finds 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 Eighth, 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 the First. 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 find and possible jail time even death that might have awaited those unwilling to convert to Protestantism, there still remained a sub section of mostly upper class citizens who firmly held

onto their ties to the Catholic Church. They were called recusants, and following Pope Pious, the fifth Papal Bull excommunicating Queen Elizabeth from the Catholic Church in fifteen seventy, 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 there now technically illegal religious practices in England, the bulls 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 razors sharp knife's edge, no big deal, at least until March six o three, when the British Crown could no longer afford to ignore the imminent change that had long threatened to crest over the horizon after forty four years on the throne, and now 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 the Second. After such a lengthy tenure as Sovereign Elizabeth the First, death, while of course unavoidable, seemed almost more unthinkable than the idea of someone new 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 Puritan leader to be imprisoned in the Tower of London in until he died three years later for treason. When Elizabeth finally lay on her deathbed in sixteen o three, 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 twenty four, sixteen o three, it was confirmed that King James the sixth of Scotland, son of the infamous Catholic martyr Mary, Queen of Scots, had officially been given the title King James the First

of England. For the recusants, news of King James's ascension to the English throne was a welcome beacon of hope after over forty 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 sixteen o four, the actions of the new king were starting to outweigh their

fondness for his beheaded Catholic martyr mother. Following his coronation in July sixteen o three, King James sought to curry some goodwill with the British Catholics and declared his intent to pardon the finds against recusants for the whole of the following year. But after only a few short months, in late February sixteen o four, 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 recusant finds. 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 head, so lacked, basically waved in front of their cage suddenly ripped away, arguably worse than the strict ordinances enacted by Queen Elizabeth. The first 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 recuissants simply went back to practicing in secret, accepting the loss for what it was. But on the night of May sixteen o four, a group of men decidedly not in this majority, sat at a small table at London's Duck and Drake in finally desperate enough to take matters into their own hands. Now, contrary to popular belief, Guy Fox 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 and Drake that May evening, But like any good heist movie, the plots 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 catesby young, handsome and equipped with

a larger than recommended dose of theological fanaticism. Katesby 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 Katesby'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 Kateesby 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 again 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. Wintour would first hear of Katesby's plans in February six four, upon a visit to his cousin's house in Lambeth, where he went to Or 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 Katesby first relayed the plan to his cousin, win Tour was not so quick to fawn over the idea of drastic action.

Rightfully so win to Or feared the negative repercussions that would, no doubt plague English Catholics should the plot fail. If life for accusance was already a mine field of fines and warrants for arrest, what would their lives look like should the quote stroke at the root that win Tour

characterized the gunpowder treason as fail. In spite of his initial misgivings, Catesby's tenacity would win out, and within weeks wind Tour 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 wind tours 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 plots inevitable poster boy, Guy Fox, or as he was better known back then, Guido Fox, was perhaps the least connected to the actual plot itself, but that heartily 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 AMMO to take down a small army.

In short, Guy Fox was the firepower, a role borne out of years as a soldier fighting for Catholic interests abroad. Unsurprisingly, unlike wind Tour, 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 Right, 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 beginning of what would eventually become the infamous Gunpowder plot.

Tucked away at their inconspicuous table in the Duck and Drake in 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 blessing the violent means by which they saw 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 sixteen o four, each of the men had vague plans 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 sixteen o four, Percy was given the title Gentleman Pensioner, which essentially made him one of

about fifty bodyguards for the Earl of Northumberland. More importantly, though, this new position gave Percy an excuse to find permanent logic in London, and thereby secure a base of operations for the gunpowder conspirators. As Catesby continued to recruit more recuissants to their cause, Percy made the first steps towards planting boots on the ground by hiring Guy Fox as a servant under the alias John Johnson, which frankly sounds

like a name made up under Darress. 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 five, 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 sixteen o five the Palace of Westminster was by no means the space we associated with today. Back then, the building was an assortment of private apartments, taverns, and other businesses that all coexisted within walking distance of each other.

So while the idea of renting out a storage space underneath Parliament might seem completely infeasible today, in sixteen o five it was likely costly but not impossible, and so with the seller secured, the 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 he had managed to gather thirty six 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 fifth 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. A November five, Guy Fox would light the fuse to set off the thirty six 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's 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 twenty six, when, unbeknownst to Catesby, 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. 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 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 five. Children would sell handmade Guy Fox effigies fashioned out of old fabric and straw, then beg on the street asking for pennies for the guy. The sale of eyes on November five 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 words second iteration, which acted more as an insult than a physical object. By the nineteen 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 terms negative connotations would fade, and the twentieth century would give birth to the term guy as the general male descriptor we know today. Obviously, we witnessed the change of language every day, just in the use of slang a loan. 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 I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted by Me Danish Words. Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Mirra Hayward,

Courtney Sunder and Laurie Goodman. The show is produced host by rema Il Kali, with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.