GUY FAWKES

On Friday, 31 January 1606, Guy Fawkes, Thomas Wintour, Ambrose Rookwood and Robert Keyes were hanged, drawn and quartered in the Old Palace Yard at Westminster in London.

At the time of the execution Guy Fawkes was so weak from torture and sickness that he was scarcely able to climb the ladder to the scaffold. Who was he and why do we remember him and his fellow members of the Gunpowder plot every 5th of November on Guy Fawkes Night?

Birth of Guy Fawkes

Guy was born on 13 April 1570 in Stonegate, Yorkshire to a respected family. This happened just over a month after Pope Pius V had excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I. Britain was now a Protestant rather than a Catholic country and laws were enacted against Catholic worship.

Childhood of Guy Fawkes

As a boy he went to the Free School of St. Peters. St Peter's School is recorded as one of the oldest schools in England, founded in the City of York by St Paulinus in 627. Unsurprisingly little is known of the boy during his childhood, although we do know his father died when Guy was about 9 years old and his mother remarried a couple of years later.

Guy Fawkes' teenage years

At about 16 years of age Guy converted to Catholicism. The reasons for this are unclear, but it seems his stepfather Denis Bainbridge of Scotton was a Catholic.

Guy was growing up to be quite a tall young man, with thick red hair and a beard. At some point he travelled to Flanders and enlisted in the Spanish army. Whether this was because of persecution at home or simply a lust for adventure we will never know.

The Gunpowder Plot

Little is known of his actions leading up to May 1604 at the Duck and Drake In on London's Strand where he agreed under oath to join the Gunpowder Conspiracy. The plan was to blow up the british Parliament. To do this the conspirators hired a cellar beneath Parliament, and filled the room with barrels of gunpowder.

A search of the cellar on the night of the 4th November revealed Guy Fawkes hiding with the Guinpowder, waiting to blow up the building later the following day.

Bonfire Night

In Britain bonfire night is celebrated on 5th november each year on the anniversary of the day when Fawkes intended to blow up parliament.

Guy Fawke's real name

Over the years there has been confusion about guy fawkes real name. This is because while in the Spanish Army he called himself Guido and because when first arrested he said his name was Richardson.

Penny for the Guy

Modern British view of Guy Fawkes

The BBC made a television series called "100 Greatest Britons" in 2002. Members of the public voted for their favourite Britons of all time and although unsurprisingly the wartime leader and parlimentarian Sir Winston Churchill won the top spot, the anti-parliamentarian Guy Fawkes came in 30th place.

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