Baptism of Guy Fawkes – 16 April 1570

It is not known exactly what date Guy Fawkes was born, possibly the 13th April 1570, but he was baptised on the 16th April 1570 at the Church of St Michael le Belfrey in York.

Guy Fawkes, or Guido Fawkes (the name he used when fighting in the Low Countries on the side of Spain), is obviously famous for being involved in The Gunpowder Plot, the plot to blow up the Palace of Westminster on the opening session of Parliament. It was Fawkes who was caught red-handed in the cellars beneath Westminster on the night of the 4th/5th November with 36 barrels of gunpowder.

On the 31st January 1606, Guy Fawkes and three of his fellow conspirators were dragged from the Tower of London to the Old Palace Yard at Westminster, where they were to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Fawkes managed to cheat the executioner and crowd of the full horror of his sentence by jumping from the gallows and breaking his neck. His body was still quartered but he was already dead.

You can read more about Guy Fawkes and this famous plot in the following articles:-