Who is guy fawkes and what did he do

The story of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot has continued to be told ever since, and in the 19th century it became customary to burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire every year on 5 November, Bonfire Night , to mark the failure of the plot.

Sign in. Back to Main menu Virtual events Masterclasses. Who was Guy Fawkes? Born: c. April in York Advertisement. On 4 November , Guy Fawkes was caught guarding gunpowder in a cellar beneath the Houses of Parliament.

Want to learn more about the Gunpowder Plot? Fines, which could be very heavy for habitual offenders, were imposed on those refusing to attend Church of England services. Printing or importing Catholic books became high treason. Foreign-trained English Catholic priests who entered England were declared traitors, as were those who helped, housed, or hid them.

All men taking administrative office, from members of Parliament to schoolteachers, had to swear an oath denying the power of the pope and recognizing Elizabeth as head of the church.

Elsewhere, England was involved in constant warfare in Ireland, which was populated by Catholics. English Protestant propaganda stressed atrocities committed in the name of Catholicism.

By the close of the 16th century the Spanish Armada—dispatched in by Philip II of Spain, and defeated by Elizabeth—was still a fresh memory, along with its mission to reimpose Catholicism in England.

Religion also dominated the situation on the other side of the English Channel. Farther north, the Protestant Dutch Republic was embroiled in a bitter conflict with Spain. The sack of Antwerp by Spanish troops in provided English Protestants with another example of Catholic cruelty. Even Spanish agents expressed doubts about stirring up a Catholic uprising in England now that James had taken the throne.

International relations took a more placid turn as well. At the signing of the Treaty of London of , England agreed to end aid to the Protestant Dutch, and Spain agreed to give no military assistance to English Catholics.

English Catholicism was characterized by gentry leadership, which often had both sufficient influence and money. Some Catholic dissidents, however, sought to overthrow Protestant rule in England. One such person was Robert Catesby, the son of a gentry Catholic family from the English midlands. Although less famous than Guy Fawkes today, it was, in fact, the charismatic and persuasive Catesby who organized what later became the Gunpowder Plot.

In his early 30s when he conceived the plot, Catesby had a strong, attractive personality. The idea of using gunpowder had occurred to him in , and Catesby began recruiting in early The plan? To blow up Parliament and King James I in the hopes that Catholic rule could be restored in the aftermath.

Winter traveled to Flanders, which was under Spanish rule, to seek out Spanish assistance, but Spain was not interested. Luckily Winter found someone who was: Guy Fawkes, a former schoolmate of Wright.

Going by the first name Guido at that time, the English Fawkes was fighting for the Spanish in Flanders. Born a Protestant in York in , Fawkes later converted to Catholicism. Intelligent, tough, and cool-headed, his qualities were noted by English Catholics.

In May , at the Duck and Drake Inn in London, the five men met and swore an oath of loyalty and, most important of all, secrecy. Percy began living in a house close to Parliament while Fawkes, by then adopting his pseudonym John Johnson, posed as his servant. The plotters began acquiring gunpowder. The Gunpowder Plot was discovered because of a man called Lord Monteagle — he was supposed to be in Parliament on 5 November, and someone sent him a letter warning him to stay away.

Lord Monteagle told other people about the letter he received, and the places around Parliament were searched. Guy Fawkes was arrested early in the morning on 5 November in the basement where the barrels of gunpowder were stored — it was supposed to be his job to light it at the right time.

There were two parts to the Gunpowder Plot — only one of them was blowing up the Parliament buildings and killing the King. The plan was that when the news spread that the King was dead, these men could get other Catholics who were just as frustrated as they were to revolt against the laws against their faith.

He led the Gunpowder Plot, and was killed a few days after Guy Fawkes was arrested. He was arrested after the Gunpowder Plot was discovered, and his signed confession tells us a lot of what we know about the plot. He joined the Gunpowder Plot in the spring of After the plot failed and Guy Fawkes was arrested, Robert managed to hide for a few months but was eventually arrested in January He was put to death on the day before Guy Fawkes was.

Thomas Percy also rented the basement located underneath the House of Lords where the gunpowder was stored. He was killed a few days after Guy Fawkes was arrested, along with Robert Catesby. It was his job to guard the gunpowder.

He was arrested and put to death on the same day as Guy Fawkes. When Ambrose found out that Guy Fawkes had been arrested before being able to light the barrels of gunpowder, he left London to tell Robert Catesby, who was travelling north to take care of another part of the plot.

Ambrose was arrested on 8 November , and put to death on the same day as Guy Fawkes. He was arrested on 8 November , and put to death on the day before Guy Fawkes died. Robert Catesby, and even some people today, think that he wrote an anonymous letter to Lord Monteagle warning him of danger if he went to the House of Lords on 5 November; this is because Francis was upset that some of his relatives would be killed if the explosion happened.

Francis was arrested after the Gunpowder Plot failed and taken to the Tower of London, where he died about a month later. Thomas Bates?

When Robert told him about the plot, Thomas agreed to help. After the plot was discovered and Guy Fawkes was arrested, Thomas was captured too. He was put to death a day before Guy Fawkes was.