What Italian-style name did Guy Fawkes use while fighting abroad? Guy Fawkes used the Italian-style name Guido.
Fawkes left England for mainland Europe after converting to Catholicism and served Catholic Spain in the Eighty Years’ War against Protestant Dutch rebels in the Low Countries. He became an experienced soldier and was later described as an alférez, or junior officer. His military career helped make him valuable to the conspirators because he had practical experience with weapons and explosives.
In 1603, while seeking Spanish support for a Catholic rebellion in England, Fawkes adopted the Italian form Guido. He used the name in a memorandum to the Spanish court, where he criticized James I and expressed hostility to the king’s treatment of Catholics. The name is therefore associated with his continental military and political activities rather than being his original English name.
Fawkes also used the alias John Johnson inside England during the Gunpowder Plot. That is a separate identity from Guido: John Johnson was the servant’s name he gave while guarding the gunpowder beneath the House of Lords in 1605.