A small victory for Catholic blogging

Coughton Court - a haven for Recusant Catholics but not assassins!

Some weeks back I posted on the National Trust property and Recusant house of Coughton Court in Warwickshire. I was concerned that one guide in particular was claiming that the Pope issued a decree to all English Catholics "to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I".


Also, other guides were 'dumbing down' the effects of the Dissolution of the Monasteries by using terms such as "Henry VIII closed the monasteries" - some closure!
Well, a stout hearted blogger, one, Umblepie, decided to take the matter up with the National Trust and, as a result, has received a letter promising a review of the interpretational literature and a promise that the issue will be discussed at the next team meeting of the guides. 
A good result I would say and a not insignificant victory for Catholic bloggers. Next issue.......more EF Masses! 

Here is the Trust's response:

Dear Mr ...............

Thank you for your letter dated 6 April and your interest in Coughton Court.  Our Administrator has passed your letter to me so that I may reply to you, as I lead the team who support our room guides.

We are keen to provide an accurate and balanced interpretation of the house, the people who have lived here or who have been associated with it, together with the times in which they lived. Your comments regarding the 'Reformation' and the comments made by my colleagues will be presented at our next interpretation work group meeting. I have also passed a copy of your letter to our Interpretation Officer who is responsible for the presentation material for the house.

We always welcome discussion about our presentation and thank you for taking the time to share your views.

Yours sincerely,

Julie Brunton,

Volunteer Support and Development Team Leader,

Coughton Court.

So casually are we traduced....

Readers of this blog will have seen my recent posts on Coughton Court, country seat of an old Recusant family, the Throckmortons.
When I visited there recently I stood on the edge of a small group while a guide (each room has a knowledgeable volunteer who offers information) gave forth on the history of the period.

"The Pope at the time excommunicated Queen Elizabeth and told Catholics that is was their duty to assassinate her"

Spouted the guide firmly.
I could not believe what I was hearing, so much so that I interjected and stated that the Pope issued no such command.

"Oh yes he did!" Was the response and I am afraid that I made the less than original reply - "Oh no he didn't".

For the sake of clarity I now relay the ensuing conversation:-

Guide: "Well he implied it"

Me: "No, he did not even imply it"

Guide: "Well he might not have implied it"

Me: "He didn't so please stop distorting the facts"

Now this may all sound rather trivial and even childish but stop to think for one minute, just how many vistors each day would leave Coughton Court under the impression that Catholics are a violent lot who only listen to the Pope on matters secular as well as spiritual. A modest estimate of visitor numbers would be c. 240 each day, 1,680 each week and, very roughly, 60,000 each year.
So are prejudices implanted and ingrained.


A hiding hole for priests revealed at Coughton
Court, still the seat of lies today regarding the Faith


Moving on to another room I asked yet another guide about an item of furniture and she relayed the information that it came from a Cambridge convent after Henry VIII had "closed" the monasteries and religious houses. More angst on my part. I politely pointed out that Henry did a shade more than "close" the monasteries".

There is an undercurrent of anti Catholicism in England and Wales, I have come across it many times in my career and, of course, socially. It never erupts beyond much more than a sideways swipe at all things Catholic at a dinner party or a mealy mouthed comment at a business meeting but it is the sort of thing that would not be contemplated if Islam or race or homosexuality was the topic of conversation.

Heavily distorted historical "facts" passed on to an audience who have no reason to suspect that the truth has been distorted beyond recognition, only adds fuel to the flames and helps embed prejudices.
I recall how, in history lessons at school we were first taught the textbook answers and then, pause, the Catholic ones. Thankfully, we never seemed to confuse the two.

The words of St Robert Southwell ring as true today as they did back in Reformation times......

“We are generally accounted men whom it is a credit to pursue, a disgrace to protect, a commodity to spoil, a gain to torture, a glory to kill”….

He might have added....."a requirement to traduce!"

Because it was Catholic, stupid!

The vicar and parishioners of St Cadoc's (Church of Wales) Church in Llancarfan, near Cardiff are excited about finding 'mind blowing' rare medieval frescoes beneath the white plastered walls of the church. The paintings (ironically, one depicts St George (of England) slaying the dragon (symbol of Wales) are many and varied and the church, to its credit, has taken all the required conservation steps in order to preserve them for posterity.

Believed to date from the late 15th century the paintings are now, understandably faded, but were obviously brightly coloured at one stage.
This is great news and all seem suitably surprised but why? Most pre Reformation Churches in England and Wales were lavish in their wall paintings, bright vivid colours are an accepted part of Catholic Church history. It was only after Henry VIII had his evil way with the monasteries and churches that they were first pillaged and sacked and then commandeered by the new Protestant faith for their own acts of worship.

This meant that all "Romish" imagery was destroyed and defaced and, in the case of the frescoes, lime plastered over. The puritan streak ran strongly through the early Church of England and Wales.


St George slaying the dragon



Such acts of vandalism have largely destroyed the

works of art beneath and that is why the St Cadoc

discovery is so important.

But in all the website offerings and media excitement,

there is not one mention of the dreaded "C" word - Catholic!

The King and Queen observing from the battlements

Why 'Linen on the Hedgerow'

During the Reformation (so called), itinerant priests used to visit the larger houses to celebrate Mass covertly.
Draping laundry on the hedgerow became a signal for other Recusants, that Holy Mass was to be celebrated at that house, that day.