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Guy Fawkes was born in

York in 1570. At school
his teacher and his
friends were all Catholic.
At that time, Catholics
had practise their
religion in secret. If a
Catholic priest was
caught holding a
religious service the
punishment was death.

As Guy grew older, he

became angry about the
way Catholics were
treated.
In the 1590s he left
England for Spain. Spain
was a Catholic country.
While he was in Spain
Guy Fawkes became a
soldier fighting for the
Spanish.

In 1603, Queen Elizabeth

I died. King James IV of
Scotland became King
James I of England. King
James was a Protestant
and passed more laws
against Catholics.

Guy Fawkes wanted to stop the

punishment of Catholics in England.
While he was in Spain he met a
Catholic called Thomas Winter.
Thomas had a plan: to blow up King
James and the Houses of Parliament.
It was a very dangerous plan, but
Guy Fawkes wanted to be involved
in it.

Guy returned to England to be involved in the

gunpowder plot. He had to be very careful and
all meetings were held in secret.
On 20th May 1604, Guy met the rest of the
plotters in the Duck and Drake Inn in London.
The leader of the gang was called Robert
Catesby and Thomas Winter was also there.

The gang planned to put King James

daughter, Princess Elizabeth, on the throne.
Although she was only nine years old she was
going to marry a Catholic prince from Spain.
With her on the throne England would be a
Catholic country again!
The plotters decided
that Guy should stay in
London. He took a false
name and found a small
house to rent next to
the Houses of
Parliament.

The Houses of Parliament were just a few

small buildings in 1605. Guys house was
perfect for the plan as it had a cellar that led
beneath the Parliament buildings.
By the autumn of 1605, thirteen
people were involved in the plot but
Guy was the one who lived in the
house and it was his job to look after
the gunpowder.
When the time was right, Guy
was the one who was going
to light the fuse to make the
gunpowder explode.

Parliament was due to open at the end of

October, 1605. Everything was in place but,
unfortunately, the plotters did not realise that
news of the plot had leaked out.
On October 26th 1605 a letter was sent to a
Catholic called Lord Monteagle. It warned him
not to attend the opening of Parliament. The
Lord decided the letter had to be brought to the
Kings attention.
The King ordered that the buildings next
to Parliament be searched. Guy was
found in the cellar with the barrels of

Guy Fawkes was taken to the

Tower of London, where he was
tortured and questioned about the
other plotters. At first he didnt tell
the soldiers anything but,
eventually, he started to tell the
truth.
Robert Catesby and the other
men were found in Holbeach
House in Worcester. Four of the
plotters, including Robert
Catesby, were shot dead. The
others were sentenced to a
traitors death and were

Although he died a horrible

death, Guy Fawkes died
believing in everything he
had done and his story has
not been forgotten.

Each year, at the Opening of

Parliament, the Yeoman of the
Guard search the cellars of the
Houses of Parliament in memory
of the Gunpowder Plot.

Resource and illustrations Bev Evans,

2010
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