Crispijn van de Passe I - Portret van Thomas Percy

The Triumph of Death was a fairly common theme for late medieval artists. Like the another theme, Memento Mori, it was intended to remind viewers of mortality and death. Triumph of Death often depicts an army of skeletons massacring people of every age and gender. Sometimes, a wild carnivalesque atmosphere was emphasized in the popular motif of the Danse Macabre, or Dance of Death. Understanding the macabre spirit of death-culture in late medieval Europe requires an understanding of the terror and panic of epidemic disease, and, more generally, a fear of catastrophe and sudden death. The population of the medieval world experienced death first-hand: wide-scale death, physical decay, and the subsequent crumbling of societal infrastructure. The Black Death was the period in Europe from approximately 1347 to 1353, when bubonic plague ravaged and initiated a long-term period of cultural trauma. In fourteenth-century Europe, the mortality rate from plague was between 50% and 90% of those people who contracted the disease. The most recent works increase estimates of the total population loss to 65% in both Asia and Europe. Previous estimates state that about one-third of the population died from the disease in the years spanning the Black Death.

In art, mementos mori are artistic or symbolic reminders of mortality. Memento mori is a Latin expression meaning "remember that you have to die". It was then reused during the medieval period, it is also related to the ars moriendi ("The Art of Dying") and related literature. Memento mori has been an important part of ascetic disciplines as a means of perfecting the character by cultivating detachment and other virtues, and by turning the attention towards the immortality of the soul and the afterlife.

Remember, remember, The Fifth of November, Gunpowder treason and plot; For I see no reason Why Gunpowder Treason Should ever be forgot. The Gunpowder Plot was a failed attempt to assassinate King James I of England during the Opening of Parliament in November 1605. The plan was organized by Robert Catesby, who hoped to kill the Protestant King James and establish Catholic rule and stop the persecution of the Roman Catholic Church in England. The Plot was planned by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sought to restore the Catholic monarchy to England after a period of persecution against Catholics under King James who followed Queen Elizabeth (r. 1558 -1603), the last Tudor monarch. Elizabeth's 45-year reign is considered to be a 'golden period' of British history characterized by religious tolerance. Catesby decided on the scheme after hopes of securing greater religious tolerance under King James had faded. The plan was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605, as the prelude to a popular revolt in the Midlands during which James's nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, was to be installed as the Catholic head of state. Catesby and his fellow traitors were John and Christopher Wright, Robert and Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy, Guy Fawkes, Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates, John Grant, Ambrose Rookwood, Sir Everard Digby, and Francis Tresham. Fawkes, who had 10 years of military experience fighting in the Spanish Netherlands in the failed suppression of the Dutch Revolt, was given charge of the explosives. The plot was revealed to the authorities in an anonymous letter sent to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, on 26 October 1605. During a search of the House of Lords in the evening on 4 November 1605, "John Johnson" was discovered guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder—enough to reduce the House of Lords to rubble—and arrested. Arrested and tortured, John Johnson revealed that he was from Yorkshire in northern England and that his real name was Guy Fawkes. Most of the conspirators fled from London as they learned that the plot had been discovered, trying to enlist support along the way. Several made a stand against the pursuing Sheriff of Worcester and his men at Holbeche House; in the ensuing battle, Catesby was one of those shot and killed. At their trial on 27 January 1606 eight of the survivors, including Fawkes, were convicted and sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Although anti-Catholic legislation was introduced soon after the discovery of the plot, many important and loyal Catholics retained high office during King James I's reign. Details of the assassination attempt were allegedly known by the principal Jesuit of England, Father Henry Garnet. Although he was convicted of treason and sentenced to death, doubt has been cast on how much he really knew of the plot. The thwarting of the Gunpowder Plot was commemorated by special sermons and other public events such as the ringing of church bells, which evolved into the British variant of Bonfire Night, Fireworks Night, or Guy Fawkes Night. It remains the custom in Britain. Traditionally, in the weeks running up to the 5th, children made "guys"—effigies supposedly of Fawkes made from old clothes stuffed with newspaper, and fitted with a grotesque mask, to be burnt on a bonfire. These guys were exhibited in the street to collect money for fireworks, although this custom has become less common. Mass Culture The word guy thus came in the 19th century to mean an oddly dressed person, and hence in the 20th and 21st centuries to mean any male person. The Guy Fawkes mask is a stylized depiction of Guy Fawkes, the best-known member of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the House of Lords in London on 5 November 1605. The use of a mask on an effigy has long roots as part of Guy Fawkes Night celebrations. Illustrator David Lloyd stylized a smiling face with red cheeks, a wide mustache upturned at both ends, and a thin vertical pointed beard; the design came to represent broad protest after it was used as a major plot element in V for Vendetta (1982–1989) and its 2005 film adaptation. After appearing in Web forums it became a well-known symbol for the online hacktivist group Anonymous and other anti-establishment protests around the world. This has led to the popular name Anonymous mask.