h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Guy Fawkes spent a large proportion of his life living in the Dutch town of Maastricht. This was the setting for the signing of the Maastricht Treaty (a very original name!) which bound the countries of the EU (at that time still the EC) more tightly together. Some commentators in the UK felt that this treaty undermined the sovereignty of Parliament, which oddly enough was exactly what Guy Fawkes was trying to achieve. Why has this town got it in for the UK?

Sometimes I think the Universe has a very subtle sense of humour!

It kinda seemed that Fawkes had something against the monarchy, as opposed to the UK, or he could have just left.

Perhaps the town resents the torture and death of a favored son??

Guy Fawkes like all the rest of the catholic radical terrorists involved in the plot came and went from the country regularly. He was located in europe by the terrorist cell behind it all and actually made political journies to spain and elsewhere on behalf of the plotters.

So perhaps if there were tighter restricitons the plot would not have gone so far....a lesson for us all newly revisited of late.

for more on Fawkes go here

http://www.bcpl.net/~cbladey/guy/html/mainz.html

CB

Just a quick note for the guy who wrote the first entry here, the treaty signed in Maastricht wasn't called the Maastricht Treaty, rather it was called 'The Treaty of European Union." The other name was simply a tabloidisation.