Posts Tagged 'Henry Garnet'
The legend of Garnets Straw
Posted in Tudor people, tagged Catholic, Execution, Henry Garnet, history, Macbeth, Martyr, Shakespeare, Tudor on June 17, 2009| 4 Comments »
Henry Garnet 1555 - 1606 Note picture of 'Garnets straw' in the background of this image
On the morning of the 3rd May 1606 Father Henry Garnet was executed at St Pauls churchyard in London.The Stuart
authorities,determined to blame the Jesuit order for the recent gunpowder plot had hunted down the fugitive Priest. Garnet
had been condemned to the traitors death of hanging, drawing and quartering following what would today be labelled a show
trial.Garnet was dragged from the Tower of London through the streets on a hurdle to his place of execution – a scaffold
which had been made higher than usual to allow as many as possible to view the execution.
In an act of mercy King James had ordered that he be allowed to hang until dead so as not to suffer the full horror of this
form of execution. It was a mercy that was not needed because the crowd surged forward and pulled his legs to hasten his end.
Garnets body was quartered as was the custom but when his head was held up to view there were no cheers from a restless and
uneasy crowd.
There is a suggestion that the following lines from Macbeth refer to Garnets execution, 'Farmer' was one of his aliases and
Garnet was famous for his 'equivocal' answers to questions put to him – not telling direct lies but obscuring the truth in
order to protect others.
Who's there, i' the name of
Beelzebub? Here's a farmer, that hanged
himself on the expectation of plenty: come in
time; have napkins enow about you; here
you'll sweat for't.
[Knocking within]
Knock,
knock! Who's there, in the other devil's
name? Faith, here's an equivocator, that could
swear in both the scales against either scale;
who committed treason enough for God's sake,
yet could not equivocate to heaven: O, come
in, equivocator.
It may be that the last part of this verse refers to events after Garnets death
knock, knock! Who's there? Faith, here's an
English tailor come hither, for stealing out of
a French hose: come in, tailor; here you may
roast your goose.
After the execution a piece of blood stained straw was taken as a relic. It was said that a young Catholic in the crowd took
the straw to a Tailor called Hugh Griffin. It was only later, when the blood had dried on the straw that people noticed that
the stain looked like a human face. On closer inspection it was thought the face looked like Garnet. As Garnet was now a
martyr it was inevitable that the image on the straw was viewed as a miraculous happening. The authorities were horrified
that a man viewed by them as a traitor was being celebrated in this manner. Immediate efforts were made to try and capture
the relic and it was suggested that a 'Popish' painter had forged the relic.
The straw was eventually smuggled out of England and ended up in France where it disappeared forever -some time during the
French revolution. An idealised likeness of the straw can be seen behind Garnets picture at the top of this post, I thought
it might be interesting to try and re-create the straw which is the picture you can see at the side of this post.
The execution of Father Garnet
On the morning of the 3rd May 1606 Father Henry Garnet was executed at St Pauls churchyard in London. The Stuart authorities, determined to blame the Jesuit order for the recent gunpowder plot had hunted down the fugitive Priest. Garnet had been condemned to the traitors death of hanging, drawing and quartering following what would today be labelled a show trial. Garnet was dragged from the Tower of London through the streets on a hurdle to his place of execution – a scaffold which had been made higher than usual to allow as many as possible to view the execution.
An act of mercy?
In an act of mercy King James had ordered that he be allowed to hang until dead so as not to suffer the full horror of this form of execution. It was a mercy that was not needed because the crowd surged forward and pulled his legs to hasten his end. Garnets body was quartered as was the custom but when his head was held up to view there were no cheers from a restless and uneasy crowd.
A hidden reference in Macbeth?
Lady Macbeth: Photo miss insomnia tulip on Flickr ( Click image)
There is a suggestion that the following lines from Macbeth refer to Garnets execution, and if so, this helps to date the play to sometime just after the execution. Garnet was famous for his 'equivocal' answers to questions put to him – not telling direct lies but obscuring the truth in order to protect others whilst 'Farmer' was one of his aliases.
Beelzebub?
Here's a farmer, that hanged himself on the expectation of plenty: come intime;
have napkins enow about you; here you'll sweat for't.
knock! Who's there, in the other devil's name?
Faith, here's an equivocator, that could swear in both the scales against either scale;
yet could not equivocate to heaven: O, come in, equivocator.
knock, knock! Who's there?
Faith, here's an English tailor come hither,
for stealing out of a French hose: come in, tailor;
here you may roast your goose.
(Macbeth II, 3)
A bloody relic
After the execution a piece of blood stained straw was taken as a relic. It was said that a young Catholic in the crowd took the straw to a Tailor called Hugh Griffin. It was only later, when the blood had dried on the straw that people noticed that the stain looked like a human face. On closer inspection it was thought the face looked like Garnet. As Garnet was now a martyr it was inevitable that the image on the straw was viewed as a miraculous happening.
The authorities were horrified that a man viewed by them as a traitor was being celebrated in this manner. Immediate efforts were made to try and capture the relic and it was suggested that a 'Popish' painter had forged the relic. The straw was eventually smuggled out of England and ended up in France where it disappeared forever – some time during the French revolution.
An idealised likeness of the straw can be seen behind Garnets picture at the top of this post, I thought it might be interesting to try and re-create the straw which is the picture you can see at the side of this post.
Mysterious faces in strange places.
Of course – we have no way of knowing exactly what Garnets straw really did look like and a martyrs face on a straw may seem a strange idea. However, this story reminded me of a recently found image. In May 2009 a family in Wales claimed to have seen the face of Jesus on the underside of a lid of marmite. If this sort of thing still happens quite regularly today then it is perhaps no suprise that people from earlier and more traumatic times saw such things too.
Daily Telegraph Story - click image
A search at Baddesley Clinton
Posted in Tudor people, Tudor Places, tagged Baddesley Clinton, Catholic, Henry Garnet, John Gerard, Martyr, Tudor on April 16, 2009| 2 Comments »
Baddesley Clinton by Nala Rewop on Flickr (Click image)
Baddesley Clinton in Warwickshire is a moated house now owned by the National Trust. The house which partly dates from the 15th Century experienced one of it's most dramatic events during the Tudor period.
During this time it was an offence to attend Catholic mass, people were fined for not attending Church of England services and Priests could suffer savage punishment. In an attempt to maintain the faith, priests were trained abroad, smuggled into the country and then hidden by a covert network of sympathisers. In Warwickshire, as elsewhere in England, many of the gentry continued to practice what they saw as the true faith. One such family were the Ferrers who owned Baddesley Clinton.
A secret conference.
In 1591, the house was the scene for a secret conference of Catholic Priests. Amongst those at the conference were the well known Jesuit Priests John Gerard, and Henry Garnet as well as seven or eight fellow Jesuits, other Priests and a few fugitive sympathisers. All of these people were being actively sought by the authorities and the capture of such a group would have dealt a serious blow to the secret Catholic mission to England.
Partly because of concern about the possibility of such a large group being captured the conference broke up early. Several people departed leaving only John Gerard, Father Southwell and five others at Baddesley Clinton. At five o'clock in the morning whilst preparations for Mass were being made the house was raided by the authorities.
Baddesley Clinton by matthewallton on Flickr (Click image)
Armed raiders.
Four armed Priest hunters ( known as Pursuivants) had arrived and were loudly threatening a servant who had barred the door to them. Because the servant had delayed their entry the Priests inside the house had time to hide their vestments and the altar stuff. The Priests even had time to turn the mattresses on their beds so that they would not feel warm to a searchers touch.
By the time the mistress of the house had come downstairs and allowed the searchers to enter, the Priests were hidden in a secret hide underneath the house. They had to remain crouched here for four hours whilst the search went on above them. Eventually the searchers tired of their efforts and left after they had extracted payment from the household for their troubles.
Baddesley Clinton Lizwalker1975 (Click image)
A close escape.
Once it was certain the Pursuivants were gone, the Priests were called up out of the hide. Care still had to be taken though to guard against the searchers appearing to leave and then returning which was a common tactic.
John Gerard wrote the account of this search in his memoirs when he escaped England and returned to live the rest of life on the continent. Robert Southwell and Henry Garnet were not so lucky as both of them were later caught and executed by being hung, drawn and quartered.
As you can see from the pictures, Baddesley Clinton is a really beautiful place to visit. If you go there, you can still see some of it's hiding places as well as it's beautiful rooms and gardens. The hide that was used in 1591 was originally part of the house sewer and is though to have been converted to a hide by Nicholas Owen, the master builder of such places.
You may well find it hard to imagine such a peaceful and secluded place being the scene of dramatic and perilous events.
See our earlier post 'Tyburn Martyrs'