Most people in the world see only the surface of events. We can accept simple explanations of events and be satisfied and indeed most news is as reported. The But throughout time there have been groups and individuals that have tried to change the course of events by acting in secret. Then of course there are events that don’t seem to fall into a simple category and beg for a more elaborate explanation. These are the conspiracies that I will address in this series.
So, lets start with some conspiracies that are actually real and did happen and later on we will discuss some more contemporary unproven conspiracies.
Lets start 400 years ago with the Guy Fawkes conspiracy.
At the beginning of the 17th century Britain was a religious powder keg. Catholics and protestants were openly fighting and jockeying for power. King James I had just ascended to the throne and angry Catholics plotted against him and the English parliament. Feelings were still raw over the reign of Tudor Dynasty.
when James ascended to the throne there were immediately 2 plots to remove him and to put a catholic monarch on the throne. Both plots failed and the Spanish became reluctant to continue plotting. So the CIA was not the first spy agency to try to subvert a foreign government.
Oddly enough most of these plots failed due to the efforts of Francis Walsingham who ran Britain’s first intelligence service and who made current efforts by the NSA to intercept private communications look benign by comparison.
So we have a case of one spy agency trying to do some very unethical things aimed at removing a lawful ruler from power, being foiled by another spy agency doing some very unethical things concerning privacy rights to stop them. weird.
Guy (or Guido) Fawkes was a catholic convert that along with the Wright brothers formed a plot to overthrow the government. Guy had been a soldier in the continental religious wars and was an expert with explosives.
Fawkes appealed to the Spanish to invade England but got no support. Along with the Wrights and Roger Catesby, he formed a plot to strike a shocking blow and force the Spanish to act.
They rented a building next to parliament and began mining a tunnel under parliament and got into the basement and filled it with explosives. This was in the carefree days when one could dig mines in the middle of London for no reason at all and purchase large quantities of gunpowder.
One member of the group however (unknown to this day) wrote a friend, a Lord Monteagle, to stay away from parliament on November 5th. This Lord was no fool and alerted the proper authorities.
Guards arrived just in time to see Guy with torch in hand about to blow up the building. He was caught, tried, and basically tortured to death.
For years this event has been celebrated as Guy Fawkes day in Britain, and the more serious aspects of the event have been forgotten or glossed over. Until its become almost a joke.
I have to wonder what history will make of the current round of religious wars sparked by 9/11. Will we as a species gloss over, and forgive each other and look back on this as a series of misunderstandings or will we keep these wounds open and fresh.
Recent Comments