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'Guy Fawkes' (13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as 'Guido Fawkes', was a member of a group of English Roman Catholics who attempted to carry out the Gunpowder Plot on 5 November 1605.

Contents

Early life

Gunpowder Plot

Reaction

In popular culture

In literature

In film and television

In music

Other

References

See also

External links

Early life

Fawkes was born on 13 April 1570 in Stonegate, York, the only son of Edward Fawkes (died 1579) and Edith Jackson. His mother had given birth to a daughter, 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).
Guy Fawkes's father, Edward Fawkes, was a descendant of the Fawkes family in Farnley. He was either a notary or proctor of the ecclesiastic courts and later an advocate of the consistory court of the Archbishop of York. Edward's wife, Edith Jackson, was descended from prominent merchants and aldermen of the city. Edward Fawkes died in 1579, and his widow remarried in 1582, to 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 their influence contributed to Guy’s eventual conversion to Catholicism.
Guy was originally baptised in the church of St. Michael le Belfrey on 16 April 1570 and was raised a Protestant. He attended the Free School of St Peter's in York called "Le Horse Fayre". The school had been founded by Royal Charter of Philip and Mary in 1557. Fawkes's 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. During Fawkes's time at St Peter's Free School 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. Fawkes converted to Catholicism around the age of 16, according to his admission of recusancy at the preliminary interrogation that followed his capture.
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. He fought against the Protestant United Provinces in the Eighty Years' War with the armies of Catholic Spain. 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 in possession of the Castilian 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 stadholder 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.

Gunpowder Plot

Main articles: 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 English 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 year 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 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.
The plot itself may have been occasioned by the realization by English Protestant authorities and Roman Catholic recusants that Spain was in far too much debt and was fighting too many wars to assist English Roman Catholics. Any possibility of toleration by the State was removed at the Hampton Court conference in 1604 when James I attacked both extreme Puritans and Catholics. The plotters realized 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 800kgs) 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, and 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, Greater Manchester, 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. 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.}

Reaction

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 the 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 Summe 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.

In popular culture

The practice of referring to people as "guy" or "guys" began shortly after Fawkes was made famous by the Gunpowder Plot. In 18th-century England, the term was originally used to refer to an effigy of Fawkes, which would be paraded around town by children on the anniversary of the conspiracy.^[1] 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".^[2] 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.^[3]
A common phrase is that Fawkes was "the only man to ever enter parliament with honourable intentions".^[4]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.
The rhyme "Remember, remember, the 5th of November" is used in one of the most popular websites at YTMND (spotz(dot)ytmnd(dot)com) This is the site where the famous NEDM (Not even Doom music) meme was born.

In literature

★ In 1842, William Harrison Ainsworth wrote an historical novel called ''Guy Fawkes'', which portrayed Fawkes, and Catholic recusancy in general, in a sympathetic light and began to challenge the official depiction of the plot.

★ 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 Fawkes mask. In the film version, V plans to blow up the abandoned Parliament buildings on a future 5 November as his final move in bringing down the nation's fascist tyrannical dictator, whose physical appearance is loosely based on James I. The film demonstrated that Fawkes is still linked with anarchy in the popular imagination just as he was in the seventeenth century, though in many modern depictions (including the film adaptation) Fawkes is given heroic qualities.

★ T.S. Eliot makes reference to Guy Fawkes in his poem "The Hollow Men", as does Herman Melville (author of ''Moby Dick'') in ''Benito Cereno''.

★ In Charles Dickens' ''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..."

★ In the Harry Potter books and films, Albus Dumbledore's pet phoenix is named Fawkes.

In film and television

★ 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.

★ ''V for Vendetta'' was adapted into a feature film in 2006.

In music

★ 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".

Other

★ ''Guido Fawkes'' has been adopted as a pseudonym by the right wing British political blogger, Paul Staines, who deals with political rumour and gossip.

References

"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.
1. Online Etymology Dictionary
2. Penny for the Guy Cnn Travel guide
3. Firework Laws
4. Famous People website: Famous Criminals > Guy Fawkes

See also

★ 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

External links

★ 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