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Guy Fawkes: A Terrorist, Not A Hero
A lesson from history books rather than comic books
I chuckle when I see clowns with their comic book masks because they don’t understand who Guy Fawkes was or why he did what he did. Anyone knowing the facts about the 1605 terrorist group Guy Fawkes was a part of will find it disgusting that anyone would idolize him or adopt him as a symbol of protest. Let’s look into those facts.
The Political Background of 1605
To understand Guy Fawkes and the reaction to him, you need to understand the political situation at that time. In late 16th and all of 17th century England, the biggest political issue was the question of Catholicism. This was far more than an issue of personal religious freedom; it was a serious geopolitical issue for two reasons.
The first reason was that the Catholic Church in that era was far more politically-oriented than it is today and was involved in almost all-important international conflicts. The Church was a major power broker, involved in choosing rulers, negotiating treaties, and even raising armies for military actions. Within the Church, selections of cardinals and popes were political decisions struggled over among the rich and powerful.
