Guy Fawkes

Q: The Gunpowder Plot for which Guy Fawkes is famous, was a plan to kill which king?

A: King James I

Which King Was the Target of the Gunpowder Plot?

The infamous Gunpowder Plot of 1605, for which Guy Fawkes is best remembered, was a conspiracy to assassinate King James I of England.

A group of English Catholics, frustrated by what they saw as the king's failure to grant greater religious freedom, devised a plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening. Their goal was to kill the king, members of Parliament, and other leading figures of the Protestant government in a single devastating attack.

Guy Fawkes was tasked with guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder hidden beneath Parliament. However, an anonymous warning letter alerted authorities to the plot. In the early hours of 5 November 1605, Fawkes was discovered in the cellar and arrested before he could ignite the explosives.

The failed conspiracy is still commemorated in Britain each year on 5 November, known as Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night, with fireworks, bonfires, and the famous rhyme: “Remember, remember, the Fifth of November.”