Tonight is Guy Fawkes Night, an annual remembrance in the United Kingdom of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in which Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes, and other Catholic revolutionaries attempted to assassinate the Protestant King James I by blowing up the House of Lords during the opening of Parliament.
This1606 account of the trial of Henry Garnet, one of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, bears an interesting and relevant presentation inscription pasted onto the front endpaper:
Presented to the Revd. Athels[ta]n Corbet, with the respects of Revd. Dickinson Macclesfield March 12th, 1872
I send the above to be pasted in the book or committed to the fire, without the aid of gunpowder
Obviously (and thankfully, for provenance purposes), this presentation note was spared the fire!
Letter sent to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, warning him to stay away from parliament on the day of the Gunpowder Plot.
“My lord, out of the love I have for some of your friends, I want to make sure you are safe. Because of this I would advise you to not attend this sitting of parliament because God and man have agreed to punish the wickedness of this time. Do not think this is a joke, go to your estate in the country where you will be safe, because although there is no sign of any problem yet, this parliament will receive a terrible blow, but they will not see who it is that hurts them. This advice should not be ignored as it may do you some good, and it can do you no harm because the danger will have passed as soon as you have burned this letter. I hope God grants you the grace to make good use of it, and that he protects you.”
Historia de in icono: cuando la máscara de Guy Fawkes no se llevaba a las manifestaciones
Aparece en las últimas fotos de las protestas en Río de Janeiro o de la plaza de Taksim de Estambul, en cualquier protesta de Anonymous y en casi todas las manifestaciones de los últimos años. La careta blanca, con bigote, barba con perilla e inquietante sonrisa la encontramos también en antiguas fotos en blanco y negro. La historia de estas máscaras con el diseño del protagonista de V de Vendetta - famoso cómic de Alan Moore con dibujos de David Lloyd, que fue llevado al cine- comienza a principios del siglo XVII con el británico Guy Fawkes.
EnV de Vendetta, V destruye el parlamento británico. Fawkes (1570-1606) fue detenido el 4 de noviembre de 1605 como líder de un grupo de católico que intentó atentar contra la Cámara de los Lores por la falta de tolerancia religiosa hacia su credo. “La Ley de Acción de Gracias de 1606 convirtió en obligatorios los festejos del 5 de noviembre para recordar a los británicos el precio de la traición. La fiesta oficial fue abolida en 1859, pero las conmemoraciones continúan hasta hoy, aunque en un tono más festivo”,explicaba en un postenEl País Walter Oppenheimer. A esa festividad pertenecen estas fotos en blanco y negro que hemos encontrado en el archivo de Hulton en Getty. Antes de ser icono de manifestaciones ya existía en las máscaras de los monigotes que se quemaban en hogueras cada 5 de noviembre, en Bonfire Night.
“Remember, remember the fifth of November…“Guy Fawkes is said to have been carrying this iron lantern when he was arrested in the cellars underneath the Houses of Parliament on the night of 4–5 November 1605. Fawkes and his conspirators planned to ignite barrels of gunpowder concealed under firewood in the cellar during the state opening of Parliament, with the aim of blowing up the chamber and killing the Protestant King James I. Thanks to an anonymous warning, the cellars were searched, Fawkes was discovered and the plot failed.
Celebrating the fact that King James I had survived the attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London, and later the introduction of the Observance of 5th November Act enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot’s failure.
Gifted to the University by Robert Heywood in 1641, the lantern joined the Ashmolean collection over two hundred years later in 1887. Guy Fawkes’ lantern is currently on display in our Ashmolean Story gallery on our lower ground floor.
