Guy Fawkes' real name was Guido Fawkes. The son of Edward Fawkes, the
proctor and advocate in the c##被过滤##tituary court of York, Fawkes was born in the Stonegate district of York and Baptized at St. Michael-le-Belfry in 1570. Fawkes
had two younger sisters called Elizabeth and Anne.
Fawkes attended St. Peter's School in 1578 where he may have been
influenced by the headmaster, John Pullen, a man later named as a suspected Jesuit. John
and Christopher Wright also attended St. Peter's.
After his father died in 1579, his mother Edith remarried into the Catholic
Bainbridge family of Scotton. It is believed it was his stepfather that influenced
him to become a Catholic. By the time Fawkes had reached the age of 21,
Fawkes had sold his inheritance and had joined the Catholic forces fighting in
the Low Countries.
For twelve years Fawkes served in the Militia in the Netherlands. As a trained
miner, he was highly skilled with gunpowder and in the practices of tunneling.
During his service, Fawkes was actually at the siege of Calais and in 1603,
Fawkes sought counsel with King Philip II in Spain on the plight of English
Catholics. It was there, that he met with Christopher Wright, with whom he attempted to obtain Spanish support for an invasion of England.
On April 25th 1604, Fawkes arrived in England with Thomas Wintour and in
May 1604 he joined the Gunpowder Plot with Robert Cate**y at The Duck
and Drake Inn, with the express intention of destroying the Palace of
Westminster, the Houses of Parliament and King James I.
Fawkes was subsequently captured at around midnight Nov.4 and was
brought before the Privy Council on November 5th. On November 7th,
after several sessi##被过滤## of severe torture and under great duress, Fawkes
finally admitted that the c##被过滤##pirators had planned to free Sir Walter Raleigh
and other Tower of London Prisoners by blowing up Parliament with a large
cache of Gunpowder.
Fawkes is recorded as saying
"yt was past, and he is nowe sorry fo yt, for that he nowe perceyveth that
God did not concur with yet."
This was Fawkes' acknowledgment that he had only been foiled in his
objectives by the will of God. Fawkes only revealed the identity of his
co-c##被过滤##pirators under extreme torture on November the 9th, but only
after he was told that some had already been arrested by the authorities.
He was finally executed on January 31, 1606.
In 1605 on the anniversary of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot being
foiled, bonfires were lit to burn effigies of Guy Fawkes and fireworks let
off in defiant celebration all over London and within a couple of years this
was a national celebration. To this day Guy Fawkes is remembered each
year on November 5 for his audacious attempt to blow up the Houses of
Parliament and nearly successful act of ultimate traitorship.
