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The Gunpowder Plot: The narrative of Oswald Tesimond Alias Greenway
Translated from the Italian of the Stonyhurst Manuscript, edited and annotated by Francis Edwards. First of this edition. Fine condition in a very good slipcase.
- GenresHistory
258 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1973
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 5, 2021
It is always interesting reading contemporary accounts, and this was written only a couple of years after the famous Gunpowder Plot of 1605. As usual with such contemporary accounts, the author takes a lot of knowledge for granted in the reader so if you don't know much about England in the early 1600s you will need a bit of guidance here.
This book was written by a Catholic priest who had been in England in 1605, but who escaped abroad before he could be caught, tried and executed in the wake of the Plot. He is clearly writing for an audience of Catholics on the European continent. he takes if for granted that the reader sympathises with Catholics and their religious/political ambitions as much as he opposes Protestantism and detests the Puritans. It is also written for the gentry and nobility. The characters who come from the upper classes are described closely and treated sympathetically. Servants, farmers and the like are brushed aside and barely mentioned.
I picked up quite a few little details of which I was unaware - such as the mysterious bell that the plotters heard when they were stashing the gunpowder and which they took as a sign of divine favour. I was also unaware of just how elaborate were the preparations made by the plotters for what they would do after the blast had killed the king and Parliament. They were obviously well prepared, well funded and poised to act. Whether they would have succeeded is another matter [i think they would not] but they were obviously not a bunch of nutters, but knew what they were up to.
The later sections of the book, I found to be rather tedious. The author lays it on thick and at length about how the only Catholics involved were the men who the English government had caught and executed. Nobody had helped them, nor even known of the plot. No! absolutely not!. Especially not any of the Catholics priests in England. Perish the thought. Quite clearly at least some others must have been involved - somebody got the horses ready, prepared the guns and stored the swords. But maybe they were only servants. I have no idea who was involved other than those executed, but it did get a bit boring as page succeeded page with excuses and claims that everybody was entirely innocent.
Obviously the author was protecting people. But for a modern reader it gets a bit dull.
Mind you the first two thirds of the book is gripping. Worth every penny.
This book was written by a Catholic priest who had been in England in 1605, but who escaped abroad before he could be caught, tried and executed in the wake of the Plot. He is clearly writing for an audience of Catholics on the European continent. he takes if for granted that the reader sympathises with Catholics and their religious/political ambitions as much as he opposes Protestantism and detests the Puritans. It is also written for the gentry and nobility. The characters who come from the upper classes are described closely and treated sympathetically. Servants, farmers and the like are brushed aside and barely mentioned.
I picked up quite a few little details of which I was unaware - such as the mysterious bell that the plotters heard when they were stashing the gunpowder and which they took as a sign of divine favour. I was also unaware of just how elaborate were the preparations made by the plotters for what they would do after the blast had killed the king and Parliament. They were obviously well prepared, well funded and poised to act. Whether they would have succeeded is another matter [i think they would not] but they were obviously not a bunch of nutters, but knew what they were up to.
The later sections of the book, I found to be rather tedious. The author lays it on thick and at length about how the only Catholics involved were the men who the English government had caught and executed. Nobody had helped them, nor even known of the plot. No! absolutely not!. Especially not any of the Catholics priests in England. Perish the thought. Quite clearly at least some others must have been involved - somebody got the horses ready, prepared the guns and stored the swords. But maybe they were only servants. I have no idea who was involved other than those executed, but it did get a bit boring as page succeeded page with excuses and claims that everybody was entirely innocent.
Obviously the author was protecting people. But for a modern reader it gets a bit dull.
Mind you the first two thirds of the book is gripping. Worth every penny.
February 26, 2021
Account of the time leading up to Gunpowder Plot, the discovery of the plot and the ramifications from a contemporary escaped to europe and who had some first-hand knowledge of the individuals and events. Much of the account is a description of the various persecutions of Catholics that were the reason for the attempt to assassinate the King and much of the Parliament. Following the unraveling of the plot, the narrative spends a lot of time making the case that the prosecution of notable priests and other associates was unjust as they had no knowledge of the scheme beforehand. While it's clear that to really understand the environment that was in place during this period, the religious arguments, aspects and affiliations is key, I found these sections of the book tedious and the book deals with this a lot more than with the actual Gunpowder Plot.
November 26, 2016
In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Among them was
Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor.
After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer.
A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.
To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords.
But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. Was the letter real?
The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.
Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.
It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be useless. Since Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying to ignite the powder, we'll never know for certain.
Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster. Nowadays, the Queen and Parliament still observe this tradition.
On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.
Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes' execution or honoring his attempt to do away with the government.
Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor.
After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer.
A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.
To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords.
But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. Was the letter real?
The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.
Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.
It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be useless. Since Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying to ignite the powder, we'll never know for certain.
Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster. Nowadays, the Queen and Parliament still observe this tradition.
On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.
Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes' execution or honoring his attempt to do away with the government.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews