Guy Fawkes Facts
Guy Fawkes is most famous for being part of a group of Catholics who wanted to blow up the Houses of Parliament!
Check out the facts for everything you need to know about Guy Fawkes and the 5th November!
Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...
Guy Fawkes was born in 1570 in York, England, during the Elizabethan Age (when Queen Elizabeth I ruled England).
The gunpowder plot was a plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening on 5th November 1605, killing King James I and lots of other people.
The leader of the group who wanted to kill the King was a man called Robert Catesby. Robert didn't like that King James I was a Protestant (he wanted a Catholic King or Queen).
Before the gunpowder plot, Guy (or Guido) Fawkes was a soldier for Spain in the Eighty Years War.
Although Guy wasn’t the leader, he had the important job of guarding and then lighting the gunpowder.
The plan failed because King James saw a letter warning Lord Monteagle (a friend of one of the plotters) to ‘stay away from Parliament’ on the 5th November.
Guy Fawkes was arrested in the cellar of the House of Lords, guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder,. He told them his name was John Johnson!
He was questioned and tortured by soldiers in the Tower of London for 2 whole days, until he gave up the names of the rest of his team.
The team were: Robert Catesby, Thomas Wintour, Robert Wintour, Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates, John Grant, Ambrose Rookwood, Sir Everard Digby, Francis Tresham, Thomas Percy & John Wright.
The 5th November is now known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night in England. People celebrate this as the day King James I and his ministers survived the plot.
In England bonfires are lit and firework shows are put on in gardens, parks and public areas.
