Guy Fawkes (1570-1606) was an English conspirator executed for high treason after he and a group of provincial English Catholics plotted to assassinate King James I and overthrow the government.
A convert to Roman Catholicism, Fawkes served in the Spanish army during the 1590s before returning to England, where he became embroiled in the Gunpowder Plot on November 5, 1605.
The conspirators aimed to blow up the Houses of Parliament while King James I and members of both Houses gathered for the new session. When authorities discovered the plot, they executed Fawkes and his fellow ringleaders.
Fawkes faced conviction for plotting against the king and the government. The conspirators intended to kill King James I, his ministers, and Members of Parliament by detonating 36 barrels of gunpowder hidden in a cellar beneath the House of Lords. Their actions stemmed from retaliation against the severe persecution of Roman Catholics under England’s Protestant rule.
After an anonymous warning letter uncovered the conspiracy, authorities caught Fawkes guarding the explosives late on November 4, 1605. They arrested him, subjected him to torture, and subsequently tried and sentenced him to death.
Fawkes received the brutal penalty for traitors: hanging, drawing, and quartering. On January 31, 1606, as he was being hanged, Fawkes either jumped or fell from the gallows ladder, breaking his neck and dying instantly—thus escaping the horrific remainder of his public execution.
Content for this question contributed by Selena Banks, resident of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA
