November 5th 1605. This was the date when a small group of conspirators planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
The plot centred around five conspirators, Robert Catesby, Thomas Winter, Thomas Percy, John Wright, and of course Guy (or Guido) Fawkes.
Much has been written about these five men, a lot of which can be found online. But very little has been written about the other seven men who were involved. Or indeed with their connection to the Temple in London.
Inner Temple and Middle Temple Inns are two of the four Inns of Court that barristers are members of. Both Inner and Middle Temple are adjacent to the courtyard of Temple Church itself.
You can't get much closer to the consecrated Holy Temple of the original Knights Templar infused with their symbols, it is these two Inns of Court which have an historically proven track-record of maintaining the most defiant anti-establishment resistance in defense of Civil Rights.
And it was this strong moral drive to defend our civil liberties that ultimately led to several of the Inns members becoming involved with the famous Gunpowder Plot of Guy Fawkes.
The brothers Thomas and Robert Winter, who were admitted to Middle Temple in 1590 AD, were both tried alongside Guy Fawkes as co-conspirators and executed with him.
Francis Tresham, a member of Inner Temple, was a key conspirator in the Guy Fawkes plot, whose message warning his brother-in-law not to attend Parliament on that day led to the discovery of the plot.
Tresham was exposed by Guy Fawkes who gave up his name whilst under torture. Tresham died in prison in the Tower of London.
Whichever way you view the Plot it self (act of terrorism or necessary violent protest), it is a lesson to all of us in who you entrust information and who you bring in to your inner circle. Not that anyone within our Order is currently plotting to overthrow the government... I think.
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