Henry Garnet
The Rev. Henry Garnet SJ | |
---|---|
Born | July 1555 Heanor, Derbyshire, England |
Died | 3 May 1606 (aged 50) St Paul's, London |
Cause of death | Execution |
Occupation | Jesuit superior in England |
Parent(s) | Brian Garnett, Alice Jay |
Conviction(s) | Treason |
Criminal penalty | Hanged, drawn and quartered |
Date apprehended | 27 January 1606 |
Henry Garnet
In 1586 Garnet returned to England as part of the Jesuit mission, soon succeeding Father William Weston as Jesuit superior, following the latter's capture by the English authorities. Garnet established a secret press, which lasted until late 1588, and in 1594 he interceded in the Wisbech Stirs, a dispute between secular and regular clergy. Fr. Garnet preferred nonviolent resistance to the religious persecution Catholics faced in England. He accordingly approved of the disclosure by Catholic priests of the existence of the 1603 Bye Plot, and repeatedly exhorted English Catholics not to plot violent regime change.
In summer 1605 Garnet met with
When the plot failed Garnet went into hiding, but he was eventually arrested on 27 January 1606. He was taken to London and interrogated by the
Early life
Henry Garnet (or Garnett) was born some time around July 1555 at Heanor in Derbyshire, son of Brian Garnet (or Garnett) and Alice (née Jay). He had at least five siblings: two brothers, Richard and John, and three sisters, Margaret, Eleanor and Anne,[1] all of whom became nuns at Louvain.[2] He was uncle to Saint Thomas Garnet SJ. Henry studied at the grammar school in Nottingham where, from 1565, his father was master. Following his election as a scholar on 24 August 1567, in 1568 he entered Winchester College, where he apparently excelled.[1] His love of music and "rare and delightful" voice were complemented by an ability to perform songs without preparation, and he was reportedly also skilled with the lute.[2] Father Thomas Stanney wrote that Garnet was "the prime scholar of Winchester College, very skilful in music and in playing upon the instruments, very modest in his countenance and in all his actions, so much that the schoolmasters and wardens offered him very great friendship, to be placed by their means in New College, Oxford."[1]
Rome
Garnet did not enter
The two men travelled to Rome and on 11 September 1575 were accepted into the church at
England
After meeting the Jesuit superior for England
Acquaviva had instructed that should anything happen to Weston, Garnet was to succeed him as
Garnet's first few years in England were spent meeting new priests in London, including
In November 1593 Garnet travelled to the decrepit and decayed Wisbech Castle, requisitioned by the government in 1579 for the internment of Catholic priests.[14] William Weston was held there. The castle's inhabitants were supported by Catholic alms and lived a relatively comfortable existence; Garnet was complimentary about Wisbech, calling it a "college of venerable confessors". The following year he mediated in a dispute there between secular and regular clergy (the latter represented by the Jesuits), which became known as the Wisbech Stirs. The argument was settled by the end of the year, but Garnet was concerned that reports of discontent at the Jesuit-administered English College in Rome and tension between some Catholic English exiles in Brussels might undermine his efforts to stabilise the situation.[1][nb 3]
Gunpowder Plot
Introduction to Catesby
Garnet spent much of 1604 on the move, although few details of his travels exist. At Easter he reportedly gave a Mass at Twigmoor Hall, the house of John Wright. In November he was with Anne Vaux (whose family he had been introduced to in summer 1586)[1] at White Webbs near Enfield, renewing the vows given on the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady.[17] On 9 June 1605, he was to be found in a room on Thames Street in London, with Robert Catesby. In the midst of what Garnet later recalled was a seemingly casual conversation, Catesby asked the priest about the morality of "killing innocents". Garnet replied according to Catholic theology, that often, during war, innocents were killed alongside the enemy. According to Antonia Fraser, Garnet may have thought that Catesby's request was to do with him possibly raising a regiment in Flanders.[18]
Garnet was not at all like Catesby, described by Fraser as possessing the mentality "of the crusader who does not hesitate to employ the sword in the cause of values which he considers are spiritual".
The two met again in July at Fremland in Essex. Garnet told Catesby that he "wished him to look what he did if he intended anything. That he must first look to the lawfulness of the act itself, and then he must not have so little regard of Innocents that he spare not friends and necessary persons for the Commonwealth." When Catesby offered to tell the priest more, Garnet declined: "I told him what charge we all had of quietness and to procure the like in others." Garnet also spoke with William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, asking him "if Catholics were able to make their part good by arms against the King", but Monteagle's reply was vague. Author Alan Haynes suggests that Garnet may at that point have become marginalised.[25]
Seal of the confessional
Garnet later claimed to have been ignorant of
On 24 August he was at White Webbs near Enfield, with Anne Vaux, her sister
Arrest and imprisonment
Garnet was at
Garnet first appeared in front of the Privy Council on 13 February 1606. Present were
The next day, Garnet was moved to the
Garnet's recent interrogation was only the first of many. Generally, his answers were carefully considered and demonstrated a passive resistance to his questioners; the use of the rack was a distinct possibility, one which he answered with "Minare ista pueris [Such threats are only for children]".[nb 5] What information he did give up was of limited interest only.[40] His jailer, a man named Carey, was employed by Waad to gain the priest's trust, offering to relay letters to his nephew in the Gatehouse Prison. Carey then placed Garnet into a cell containing a hole through which he was able to converse with Oldcorne, who was in a neighbouring cell. From "a place which was made for this precise purpose", two government eavesdroppers were therefore able to record details of conversations between the two priests. Their communications were mostly innocent, although Garnet's admission that on one occasion he drank too much wine was later used against him, along with other incriminating evidence recorded during their stay. His communications with his nephew, and Anne Vaux, were also intercepted.[41] Most of these letters found their intended recipient, but not before they had first been read by Waad, who also kept Salisbury informed.[39] Although Garnet told Vaux that the Council's evidence constituted nothing but "presumptions", insufficient for a state trial, early in March he confessed, possibly as a result of torture.[41] Vaux too was arrested and interrogated twice, just as further questions were being asked of Garnet by the council and the king, the latter of whom was interested in his opinion on theological matters.[42]
Despite his claims to have been horrified by Catesby's plan, his declaration, which admitted that he had "dealt very reservedly with your Lordships in the case of the late powder action",[43] gave the government proof that he had prior knowledge of the plot, and in their view, he was therefore guilty of misprision of treason.[44]
Trial
Garnet's trial took place on Friday 28 March 1606. He was taken to the Guildhall by closed coach; an unusual method, considering prisoners were usually walked to trial, though the authorities may have had some concern about support from a sympathetic crowd.[45] The trial began at about 9:30 am and lasted all day. In attendance were King James (hidden from public view) and several courtiers including Lady Arbella Stuart and Catherine Howard, Countess of Suffolk. Garnet was introduced with his various aliases, which included "Whalley, otherwise Darcy, otherwise Roberts, otherwise Farmer, otherwise Philips". He was accused of having conspired with Catesby on 9 June 1605 to kill the king, his son, and to "alter and subvert the government of the kingdom and the true worship of God established in England". He was also accused of having conspired with several others to blow up the House of Lords with gunpowder. He pleaded "not guilty".[46]
Speaking for the government, Edward Coke accused him of involvement in every treason since 1586, the year he returned to England. According to Coke, the provincial superior was involved in the Main and Bye Plots of 1603. He had sent Edmund Baynham to Rome to gain papal approval for the 1605 plot, and while at Coughton in November, had prayed "for the success of the great action". Coke called Garnet "a doctor of five Ds, namely, of dissimulation, of deposing of princes, of disposing of kingdoms, of daunting and deterring of subjects, and of destruction". His supposed inappropriate relationship with Anne Vaux was mentioned, but his adherence to the doctrine of equivocation proved extremely damaging. Francis Tresham's deathbed letter, which claimed that Garnet had played no part in the so-called Spanish Treason,[nb 6] was read aloud. Tresham claimed not to have seen Garnet "for fifteen or sixteen years before", despite government evidence that the two had met more recently. Garnet had not seen the letter and did not know that it referred to events before 1602, not 1605. He was unable to explain it, except by saying "it may be, my Lord, that he meant to equivocate."[48]
Statements regarding Jesuit-encouraged plots against
The jury took fifteen minutes to decide that Garnet was guilty of treason. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.[51]
Execution
The day after his trial Garnet made a new statement, which he hoped would clarify his dealings with Tresham. He also wrote to the king, reiterating his stance on violence against a rightful monarch. When the government lied and told him they had captured Tesimond, he wrote an apologetic letter to the priest regarding the nature of their conversation the previous year. He also wrote a final letter to Anne Vaux, on 21 April, relating his lack of fortune over the previous few months.[52]
After about three months spent in the Tower, on Saturday 3 May 1606 Garnet was strapped to a wooden hurdle and taken by three horses to the churchyard of St Paul's. He wore a black cloak over his clothes and hat, and spent much of the journey with his hands together and eyes closed. Present in the churchyard were the Sheriff of London, Sir Henry Montague, George Abbot and John Overal. When asked if he had knowledge of any further treasons, Garnet replied that he had nothing to say. He rejected any entreatments to abandon his faith for Protestantism, and said that he had committed no offence against the king. The only thing he thought he might be condemned for was for abiding by the terms of the confessional, and if by that action he had offended the king or state, he asked for forgiveness. The recorder announced that this was an admission of guilt, but Garnet reiterated his not guilty plea and continued to argue the point.[53]
Garnet highlighted the date of his execution, 3 May, the Feast of the Cross, and reaffirmed his innocence. He defended Anne Vaux against claims that their relationship had been inappropriate. He then prayed at the base of the ladder, disrobed down to his long, sewn-up shirt, "that the wind might not blow it up", and mounted the ladder. He ignored a Protestant minister who came forward, replying to an objectionable member of the audience that he "ever meant to die a true but perfect Catholic". Bishop Overal protested that "we are all Catholics", although Garnet disagreed with this. He once again said his prayers, and was then thrown off the ladder. Before the executioner could cut him down alive, many in the crowd pulled on his legs, and as a result, Garnet did not suffer the remainder of his grim sentence.[nb 7] There was no applause when the executioner held Garnet's heart aloft and said the traditional words, "Behold the heart of a traitor".[55] His head was set on a pole on London Bridge, but crowds of onlookers fascinated by its fresh and unblemished appearance eventually forced the government to turn the head upward, so its face was no longer visible.[56]
A bloodstained straw husk saved from the scene of the execution and said to bear Garnet's image became an object of curiosity. It was smuggled out of the country into the possession of the Society of Jesus, before being lost during the French Revolution.[57]
Writings
Garnet's writings include An Apology Against the Defence of Schisme (1593), an attack against church
His defence of the practice of
References
Notes
- ^ Weston's capture came as a result of intensified persecution of Catholics, caused by the Babington Plot.[7]
- ^ See Jesuits, etc. Act 1584
- ^ Jesuits preferred to hold to traditional Catholic values, risking death if captured, but some in Wisbech painted them as traitors.[15] Their opponents wanted a compromise with the English government, hoping for more toleration by practising a minority form of Catholicism. They wanted an end to the Jesuit administration of continental seminaries, the removal of the Jesuits from the Catholic mission and the restoration of ordinary episcopal governance in England.The type of episcopal governance the Appellants wanted involved English Catholic bishops being granted the traditional powers of consecration and confirmation, distancing them from Rome, and advancing their cause to have Catholicism in England accepted as a minority religion.[16]
- ^ The Council may not have realised that the treatise was authored by Garnet.[37]
- ^ Haynes (2005) appears to have misspelt this as Minute ista pueris.
- Thomas Wintour to see Superior Father Joseph Creswell, who made the introductions to the Spanish.[47]
- ^ Haynes disagrees with Fraser and says that at the King's command, Garnet was left to hang until he died.[54]
Footnotes
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10389. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b c d Fraser 2005, p. 40
- ^ Nicholls 1991, p. 63
- ^ McCoog 1996, p. 173
- ^ McCoog 1996, pp. 173–174
- ^ Basset & Charles 2004, pp. 42–43
- ^ McCoog 1996, pp. 233–234
- ^ McCoog 1996, p. 256
- ^ McCoog 1996, pp. 256–257
- ^ Basset & Charles 2004, p. 49
- ^ Basset & Charles 2004, p. 51
- ^ a b Fraser 2005, p. 41
- ^ Basset & Charles 2004, pp. 48–49
- ^ Pollen 1916, pp. 7–8
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 52–53
- ^ Fraser 2005, p. 54
- ^ Fraser 2005, p. 122
- ^ a b Fraser 2005, p. 154
- ^ Fraser 2005, p. 112
- ^ Trevor-Roper 1957, p. 109
- ^ Haynes 2005, p. 19
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 77–78
- ^ Fraser 2005, p. 78
- ^ Fraser 2005, p. 153
- ^ Haynes 2005, pp. 63–64
- ^ a b Fraser 2005, pp. 158–160
- ^ Haynes 2005, p. 66
- ^ Fraser 2005, p. 158
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 161–162
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 167–170
- ^ Fraser 2005, p. 177
- ^ Haynes 2005, pp. 79–80
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 218–219
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 259–262
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 283–284
- ^ Bengsten 2005, p. 69
- ^ Nicholls 1991, p. 72
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 290–295
- ^ a b Bengsten 2005, p. 70
- ^ Haynes 2005, pp. 116–117
- ^ a b Fraser 2005, pp. 295–303
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 307–308
- ^ Nicholls 1991, p. 65
- ^ Fraser 2005, p. 304
- ^ Bengsten 2005, p. 72
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 308–309
- ^ Haynes 2005, p. 50
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 310–312
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 312–313
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 313–314
- ^ Fraser 2005, p. 315
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 317–318
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 319–322
- ^ Haynes 2005, p. 122
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 322–323
- ^ Fraser 2005, p. 326
- ^ Fraser 2005, pp. 325–327
- ^ Miola 2007, p. 81
- ^ Miola 2007, p. 82
Bibliography
- Basset, Bernard; Charles, Rodger (2004), The English Jesuits from Campion to Martindale, Gracewing Publishing, ISBN 0-85244-599-7
- Bengsten, Fiona (2005), Sir William Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower, and the Gunpowder Plot (illustrated ed.), Trafford Publishing, ISBN 1-4120-5541-5
- ISBN 0-7538-1401-3
- Haynes, Alan (2005) [1994], The Gunpowder Plot: Faith in Rebellion, Hayes and Sutton, ISBN 0-7509-4215-0
- McCoog, Thomas M. (1996), The Society of Jesus in Ireland, Scotland, and England 1541–1588, E. J. Brill, ISBN 90-04-10482-8
- Miola, Robert S. (2007), Early Modern Catholicism, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-925985-4
- Nicholls, Mark (1991), Investigating Gunpowder plot, Manchester: Manchester University Press, ISBN 0-7190-3225-3
- Pollen, John Hungerford (1916), The Institution of the Archpriest Blackwell, Longmans, Green and Co., OL 6597071M
- Trevor-Roper, Hugh Redwald (1957). Historical essays. London, [New York]: Macmillan [St. Martin's Press]. OCLC 569433025.
Further reading
- For a fuller biography of Garnet, see Caraman, Philip (1964), Henry Garnet, 1555–1606 and the Gunpowder Plot, Longmans