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Guy Fawkes
A modern illustration of Guy Fawkes with the Houses of Parliament in the background.
Born	April 13, 1570(1570-04-13) Stonegate, York, England
Died	January 31, 1606 (aged 35) Westminster, England
Charge(s)	Conspiracy to assassinate King James I (James VI of Scotland) and members of the houses of the Parliament of England
Penalty	Hanged, drawn and quartered
Status	Ensign
Occupation	Soldier
Parents	Edward Fawkes, Edith Blake

Guy Fawkes (13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606) sometimes known as Guido Fawkes, was a member of a group of Roman Catholic revolutionaries from England who planned to carry out the Gunpowder Plot.^[1] The plot was an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament, which would displace Protestant rule by killing King James I of England and the entire Protestant aristocracy, on 5 November 1605.

Although Robert Catesby was the lead figure in thinking up the actual plot, Fawkes was put in charge of executing the plan due to his military and explosives experience. The plot was foiled at the very last moment as Fawkes was holding a lit torch to light the fuse which would detonate the gunpowder under the Houses of Parliament.

Fawkes has left a lasting mark on history and popular culture. Held in the United Kingdom (and some parts of the Commonwealth) on November 5 is Bonfire Night, centered around the plot and Fawkes. He has been mentioned in popular film, literature and music by people such as Charles Dickens and John Lennon. There are geographical locations named after Fawkes, such as Isla Guy Fawkes in the Galápagos Islands and Guy Fawkes River in Australia.

Born as Guy Fawkes on 13 April 1570 in Stonegate, York, he was the only son of Edward Fawkes and Edith Blake. His mother had previously given birth to a daughter named Anne on 3 October 1568 who died seven weeks later on 14 November. Fawkes's mother bore two more daughters, Anne (born 12 October 1572) and Elizabeth (born 27 May 1575).^[2]

St Michael le Belfrey, where Fawkes was baptised as a baby.

Guy was originally baptised in the church of St Michael le Belfrey on 16 April 1570 as a three day old baby.^[3] He attended St Peter's School in York, where his schoolfellows may have included John and Christopher Wright, both of whom would be among the conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot, and Thomas Morton, who became Bishop of Durham.^[3] During Fawkes's time at St Peter's he was under the tutelage of John Pulleyn, kinsman to the Pulleyns of Scotton and a suspected Catholic who, according to some sources, may have had an early effect on the impressionable Fawkes.^[3]

Fawkes's father was a descendant of the Fawkes family in Farnley; he was either a notary or proctor of the ecclesiastical courts and later an advocate of the consistory court of the Archbishop of York. Edward's wife, Edith Blake, was descended from prominent merchants and aldermen of the city. Edward Fawkes died in 1579, and his widow remarried in 1582, to a Catholic, Denis Bainbridge of Scotton. The family were known to be recusants, resisters of the authority of the Church of England, and it is probable that his stepfather's influence contributed to Guy’s affiliation to Catholicism; Fawkes finally converted to Catholicism around the age of 16.^[4]

In 1592, Fawkes sold the estate he had inherited from his father. In 1593, after briefly serving as a footman for the 2nd Viscount Montague, he enlisted in the army of Archduke Albert of Austria in the Netherlands and fought with the armies of Catholic Spain against the Protestant United Provinces in the Dutch Revolt . It was during this time that Fawkes adopted the name Guido, the Spanish form of Guy. He served for many years as a soldier, gaining considerable expertise with explosives, which is the most likely reason that conspirators Winter and Catesby recruited him.

The Netherlands were then possessions of King Philip II of Spain, Duke of Burgundy, and a foreigner to the Dutch. The Dutch associated Spain and Philip's rule with the Catholic Inquisition, which he had tried to impose on his territories in the Low Countries. Fawkes arrived at a time when the death of the Duke of Parma and mutinies by Spanish mercenaries had left the Catholic military force in the Netherlands paralysed, and Maurice of Nassau, the stadtholder in five provinces from 1584 till 1625, son of William of Orange, had led successful campaigns against Spanish positions

In 1596 Fawkes was present at the siege and capture of Calais. By 1602 he had risen only to the rank of ensign. There is some evidence that Fawkes was in considerable poverty around this time. He may have visited Spain in the early 1600s to request Spanish help in returning England to Catholicism.

The Gunpowder Conspirators are discovered, and Guy Fawkes is caught in the cellar of the Houses of Parliament with the explosives.

Main article: Gunpowder Plot

Fawkes is notorious for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was probably placed in charge of executing the plot because of his military and explosives experience. The plot, masterminded by Robert Catesby, was an attempt by a group of religious conspirators to kill King James I of England, his family, and most of the aristocracy by blowing up the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster during the State Opening of Parliament. Fawkes may have been introduced to Catesby by Hugh Owen, a man who was in the pay of the Spanish Netherlands. Sir William Stanley is also believed to have recommended him, and Fawkes named him under torture, leading to his arrest and imprisonment for a day after the discovery of the plot. It was Stanley who first presented Fawkes to Thomas Winter in 1603 when Winter was in Europe. Stanley was the commander of the English in Flanders at the time. Stanley had handed Deventer and much of its garrison back to the Spanish in 1587, nearly wiping out the gains that the Earl of Leicester had made in the Low Countries. Leicester’s expedition was widely regarded as a disaster, for this reason among others.

Our best primary source for the details of the plot itself is the account known as the King's Book or James I The Kings Book - A True and Perfect Relation of the Whole Proceedings Against the Late Most Barbarous Traitors. Robt. Barker, Printer to the Kings Most Excellent Majesty, British Museum 1606. Although this is a government account, and details have been disputed, it is generally considered to be an accurate record of the history of the plot, and the imprisonment, torture and execution of the plotters.

A contemporary sketch of the conspirators. The Dutch artist, Crispijn van de Passe the Elder, probably never met any of the conspirators, but the sketch has become well-known nonetheless.

The plot itself may have been occasioned by the realisation by Protestant authorities and Roman Catholic recusants that the Kingdom of Spain was in far too much debt and were fighting too many wars to assist Roman Catholics in the South of Britain. Any possibility of toleration by Great Britain was removed at the Hampton Court conference in 1604 when King James I attacked both extreme Puritans and Catholics. The plotters realised that no outside help would be forthcoming unless they took action themselves. Fawkes and the other conspirators rented a cellar beneath the House of Lords having first tried to dig a tunnel under the building. This would have proved difficult, because they would have had to dispose of the dirt and debris. By March 1605, they had hidden 1800 pounds (36 barrels, or 800 kg) of gunpowder in the cellar. The plotters also intended to abduct Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth of Bohemia, the "Winter Queen"). A few of the conspirators were concerned, however, about fellow Catholics who would have been present at Parliament during the opening. One of the conspirators wrote a warning letter to Lord Monteagle, who received it on 26 October. The conspirators became aware of the letter the following day, but they resolved to continue the plot after Fawkes had confirmed that nothing had been touched in the cellar.

Lord Monteagle had been made suspicious, however; the letter was sent to the Secretary of State, who initiated a search of the vaults beneath the House of Lords in the early morning of 5 November. Peter Heywood, a resident of Heywood, Lancashire, was reputedly the man who snatched the torch from Guy Fawkes’s hand as he was about to light the fuse to detonate the gunpowder. Fawkes was tortured over the next few days, after the King granted special permission to do so. James directed that the torture should be gentle at first, and then more severe. Sir William Wade, Lieutenant of the Tower of London at this time, supervised the torture and obtained Fawkes's confession. For three or four days Fawkes said nothing, let alone divulge the names of his co-conspirators. Only when he found out that they had proclaimed themselves by appearing in arms did he succumb. The torture only revealed the names of those conspirators who were already dead or whose names were known to the authorities. Some had fled to Dunchurch, Warwickshire, where they were killed or captured. On 31 January, Fawkes and a number of others implicated in the conspiracy were tried in Westminster Hall. After being found guilty, they were taken to Old Palace Yard in Westminster and St Paul's Yard, where they were hanged, drawn, and quartered. Fawkes, however, managed to avoid the worst of this execution by jumping from the scaffold where he was supposed to be hanged, breaking his neck before he could be drawn and quartered ("The King's Book.",1606.)

Fawkes's signature immediately after torture (only 'Guido'), and eight days later.

Many popular contemporary verses were written in condemnation of Fawkes. The most well-known verse begins:

“Remember, remember the fifth of November,

The gunpowder, treason and plot,

I know of no reason

Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.”

(For the full lyrics see Guy Fawkes Night)

John Rhodes produced a popular narrative in verse describing the events of the plot and condemning Fawkes:

"Fawkes at midnight, and by torchlight there was found

With long matches and devices, underground"

The full verse was published as A brief Summary of the Treason intended against King & State, when they should have been assembled in Parliament, November 5. 1605. Fit for to instruct the simple and ignorant herein: that they not be seduced any longer by Papists. Other popular verses were of a more religious tone and celebrated the fact that England had been saved from the Guy Fawkes conspiracy. John Wilson published, in 1612, a short song on the "powder plot" with the words:

"O England praise the name of God

That kept thee from this heavy rod!

But though this demon e'er be gone,

his evil now be ours upon!"

The Lord Mayor and aldermen of the City of London commemorated the conspiracy on November 5 for years after by a sermon in St Paul's Cathedral. Popular accounts of the plot supplemented these sermons, some of which were published and survive to this day. Many in the city left money in their wills to pay for a minister to preach a sermon annually in their own parish.

The Fawkes story continued to be celebrated in poetry. The Latin verse In Quintum Novembris was written c. 1626. John Milton’s Satan in book six of Paradise Lost was inspired by Fawkes — the Devil invents gunpowder to try to match God's thunderbolts. Post-Reformation and anti–Roman Catholic literature often personified Fawkes as the Devil in this way. From Puritan polemics to popular literature, all sought to associate Fawkes with the demoniacal.

A mask from the film V for Vendetta, based on popular depictions of Fawkes.

In 18th-century England, the term "guy" was used to refer to an effigy of Fawkes, which would be paraded around town by children on the anniversary of the conspiracy.^[5] It is traditional for children to go door-to-door with their creation asking for a small donation using the term "Penny For The Guy".^[6] In recent years this has attracted controversy as some regard it as nothing more than begging. Whilst it was traditional for children to spend the money raised on fireworks, this is now illegal, as persons under 18 cannot buy fireworks or even be in possession of them in a public place.^[7]

A common phrase is that Fawkes was "the only man to ever enter parliament with honorable intentions".^[8]This phrase may have originated in a 19th-century pantomime, and was commonly seen on anarchist posters during the early 20th century. The Scottish Socialist Party became embroiled in controversy when they resurrected the poster with humorous intent in 2003.

Fawkes was ranked 30th in the 2002 list of "100 Greatest Britons", sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public. He was also included in a list of the 50 greatest people from Yorkshire.

• In 1842, William Harrison Ainsworth wrote a historical novel called Guy Fawkees, which portrayed Fawkes, and Catholic recusancy in general, in a sympathetic light and began to challenge the official depiction of the plot.
• In Charles Dickens' 1850 novel David Copperfield, in order for Peggotty to find money for Saturday's expenses, she "had to prepare a long and elaborate scheme, a very Gunpowder Plot..."
• Herman Melville refers to Guy Fawkes in his novella Benito Cereno (1855).
• T.S. Eliot makes reference to Guy Fawkes in his 1925 poem The Hollow Men.
• In the 1953 novel by Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, the protagonist is named Guy Montag. Named directly after Guy Fawkes, this is relevant because he plans to start burning down the firemen's houses in order to overthrow the government.
• The story of Fawkes was part of the inspiration for Alan Moore's 1982 dystopian graphic novel of a fascist Britain, V for Vendetta. The story revolves around the main character, V, who wears a stylized Guy Fawkes mask.
• In Eric Idle's 1999 science-fiction novel The Road to Mars, the protagonists Muscroft and Ashby get involved in a political plot referred to as "The Powderkeg Conspiracy".
• In Jane Eyre, Jane is compared to Guy Fawkes because she looked like she was constantly plotting schemes.

• V for Vendetta was adapted into a film in 2005.
• In the 1985 film The Falcon and the Snowman, which is based on true events, the main character's pet falcon is named after Guy Fawkes.
• In an episode of the Beavis and Butt-head spin-off Daria, Daria is contacted by anthropomorphic personifications of holidays, including Guy Fawkes Night, who is portrayed as a mohawked, leather-jacket-wearing punk reminiscent of Sid Vicious.
• On The Simpsons episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious," while flying a kite, Bart remarks that with Shary Bobbins, "every day is Guy Fawkes Day."
• BBC Northern Ireland released the two-part mini-series Gunpowder, Treason & Plot in 2004.
• In the BBC Doctor Who special "The Five Doctors" the Brigadier references their capture from the time scoop as a mix of "Guy Fawkes and Halloween".

• Fawkes is documented in many film newsreels (see the archives of British Pathé and Movietone). The discovery of the plot, the celebration, and Fawkes are mentioned in many popular songs and ballads. Notably, on the vinyl version of The Smiths' album Strangeways, Here We Come, the words "Guy Fawkes was a genius" are carved near the centre of the record.
• On John Lennon's 1970 solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, Lennon sings "Remember, remember, the 5th of November" on the song "Remember". The lyrics are followed by the sound of an explosion.
• The UK-based band Pitchshifter makes reference to Fawkes, most specifically in the song "Un-United Kingdom" where the singer shouts "We could all learn a thing or two from Guy Fawkes".
• The Jethro Tull song "Commons Brawl" includes the lines "But there again I think for less poor Guy went to the wall/The wrong house but the right idea to end the Commons brawl" referring to Fawkes' participation in the Gunpowder Plot.
• The Nashville band "The Gunpowder Treason" takes their name from the Gunpowder Plot.

• Guido Fawkes has been adopted as a pseudonym by the right wing British political blogger, Paul Staines, who deals with political rumor and gossip.
• In the computer game RollerCoaster Tycoon, if one changes a patron's name to 'Guido Fawkes,' a fireworks display appears.
• The Guy Fawkes River and thus Guy Fawkes River National Park in northern New South Wales, Australia were so named by explorer John Oxley when he encountered the river on November 5th, 1824. Fittingly, both men were from North Yorkshire.

• Everard Digby, a co-conspirator in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot.
• Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival
• Dunchurch
• Juan de Jáuregui, a Spanish merchant who unsuccessfully tried to assassinate William I of Orange in 1582.
• Lewes Bonfire
• V for Vendetta

• James I The Kings Book-A True and Perfect Relation of the Whole Proceedings Against the Late Most Barbarous Traitors. Robt. Barker, Printer to the Kings Most Excellent Majesty, British Museum 1606.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Guy Fawkes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Guy Fawkes

• An edition of the "King's Book" from 1679
• Guy Fawkes
• A biography on Guy Fawkes from the Gunpowder Plot Society
• Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night
• Guy Fawkes Day Sayings and Chants, an extensive set of rhymes, often known as Bonfire "prayers" or "chants" which vary by community and location.
• Guy Fawkes and the Theatre
• Site of the Center for Fawkesian Pursuits
• British parliament's Web site to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the plot
• Parliament (Official Site) FAQ on Gunpowder Plot
• Britannia on Fawkes
• York in the time of Guy Fawkes, a walking trail exploring the Gunpowder Plot and its historical context
• Ideas for Catholics to commemorate Guy Fawkes Day — with fireworks
• History, Activities and Greeting Cards for the day
• Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot