A notorious English conspirator, born of a respected Yorkshire family; having spent a slender patrimony, he joined the Spanish army in Flanders; was converted to the Catholic faith; and on his return to England allied himself with the conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot, and was arrested in the cellars of the House of Commons when on the point of firing the explosive; was tried and executed (1570-1606).

In modern society the Guy Fawkes mask has been popularized in part to Warner Brothers film, V for Vendetta. The mask has also become a simple of protest by those in Greece, the Occupy Movement, and most recently in Turkey. The spread of the masks have caused some nations, such has Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates to ban the masks all together.