Top Five Things From the Guy Fawkes Story We Got Totally Wrong At School

Every November, we’d dutifully colour in a picture of Guy Fawkes, make a wobbly cardboard Houses of Parliament, and chant 'Remember, remember the fifth of November' as if we were about to uncover a national secret.

But here’s the thing — a lot of what we were told about Bonfire Night wasn’t exactly true. Between playground retellings, half-remembered lessons and a few centuries of propaganda, the real story of Guy Fawkes is a bit messier (and less heroic) than we learned at school.

So grab your sparklers and let’s set fire to some historical misconceptions:

5. Guy Fawkes Was the Ringleader

What we were told: Guy Fawkes masterminded the Gunpowder Plot. He was the leader, the brains, the big bad.

The truth: Fawkes wasn’t even the main guy — that was Robert Catesby, a wealthy, deeply Catholic noble who recruited Fawkes because he was good with explosives. Fawkes was more the tech support of the operation — a capable soldier who got caught literally holding the matches.

Why we believed it: “Guy Fawkes” just sounded cooler than “Robert Catesby Night,” and “Catesby effigies” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.

4. The Plot Was Foiled by a Heroic Anonymous Tip-Off

What we were told: A mysterious letter warned Parliament, saving King James I and everyone inside.

The truth: The letter’s origins are murky at best — some historians think it was a setup or even planted by the government as an excuse to crack down on Catholics. In other words, the Gunpowder Plot might’ve been part genuine conspiracy, part political theatre.

Why we believed it: Teachers love a good moral story: the brave warning, the last-minute discovery, the triumph of good over evil. Much tidier than “we may never really know what happened.”

3. We Burn Guy Fawkes Because He Was Caught

What we were told: We burn the “Guy” to celebrate the capture of the villain.

The truth: The bonfires actually started as celebrations of King James I’s survival, not necessarily Fawkes’s downfall. The tradition of burning his effigy came later — basically as a bit of dark comedy and Protestant triumphalism. By the Victorian era, “burning the Guy” was the main event, with kids parading their homemade effigies and asking for “a penny for the Guy.”

Why we believed it: Kids love fire. Adults love an excuse for fireworks. Nobody stopped to question who we were actually cheering for.

2. Fawkes Was Executed in Dramatic Style

What we were told: Guy Fawkes was heroically hanged, drawn, and quartered for his

crimes.

The truth: He was sentenced to that gruesome fate, but he avoided the worst of it by jumping off the gallows and breaking his neck — an act that denied the executioner the full spectacle. Grim, yes, but very on brand for a man who refused to go quietly.

Why we believed it: Textbooks like tidy endings. “He was caught and punished” makes a better conclusion than “he took matters into his own hands at the last moment.”

1. He Was a Villain, Full Stop

What we were told: Guy Fawkes was evil. End of.

The truth: Over time, Fawkes has become more of a folk antihero — especially in pop culture. From the V for Vendetta mask to protest movements, he’s been reimagined as a symbol of rebellion and resistance rather than treachery.

Why we believed it: School history back then loved simple moral lines — “good king, bad plotters.” But history’s more complicated, and the man we burn every year might’ve been more idealist than villain.