What was Guy Fawkes's criminal conviction?

Guy Fawkes was convicted of high treason. His crime was participating in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, a Catholic conspiracy to kill King James I and destroy the Houses of Parliament with explosives.

Fawkes was discovered guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder beneath the House of Lords on 4 November 1605. He initially used the alias John Johnson, but torture led to his confession and the disclosure of other conspirators. At his trial in January 1606, he and seven surviving plotters were found guilty of high treason.

The conviction was not merely for possessing gunpowder or planning burglary. Treason meant attacking the monarch and the state. Fawkes was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered, though he reportedly avoided the full ritual by jumping from the scaffold and breaking his neck. His name survives in Bonfire Night, observed on 5 November.