Criminal
03-30-2004, 01:32 PM
http://www.controverscial.com/Sir%20Francis%20Dashwood.htm
http://www.controverscial.com/Sir%20Fr6.jpg
Written and compiled by George Knowles.
Sir Francis Dashwood is one of those colourful characters from our past whose life was shrouded in controversy, half-truths and gossip. During his day it was widely rumoured that he and his group were evil Devil worshippers, Satanist’s up to all sorts of diabolical doings, rituals and orgies, many of which in today’s more enlightened times, few if any people would even raise an eye brow. He was an aristocrat and a man of influence but also the rogue of his day, he reveled in his indulgences living his life to the full and not giving a damn for the consequences. As such his name and that of his order was just the stuff on which legend was founded. This is the life story of Sir Francis Dashwood and the “Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe”.
During 1729 Sir Francis took another tour this time starting in Italy, and it was here that the future Dashwood of legend was formed. Italy at that time was a hotbed of occultism and Sir Francis reveled in his study of the forbidden arts and was particularly drawn to the Eleusinian mysteries. He was also greatly influenced by the work of Francois Rabelais and his fictional Abbey of Thélème. One story that became legend tells of his rakish sense of humour particularly in relation to his mockery of religion. His tutor the Catholic Jacobite ever disdainful of his promiscuous behavior, insisted on taking Sir Francis to the Sistine Chapel hoping to instill some form of respect for Christianity. Sir Horace Walpole (the 4th Earl of Orford) witnessed the event and wrote:
"It was on Good-Friday when each person who attends the service in the Sistine Chapel, as he enters takes a small scourge from an attendant at the door. The chapel is dimly lighted and there are three candles which are extinguished by the priest one by one: at the putting out of the first, the penitents take off one part of their dress; at the next, still more; and in the darkness which follows the extinguishing of the third candle, lay on their shoulders with groans and lamentations. Sir Francis Dashwood thinking this mere stage effect, entered with others dressed in a large watchman’s coat, demurely he took his scourge from the priest and advanced to the end of the chapel, where, on the darkness ensuing, he drew from beneath his coat an English horsewhip and flogged right and left quite down the chapel and made his escape, the congregation exclaiming "Il Diavolo! Il Diavolo!" thinking the evil one was upon them with a vengeance. The consequences of this frolic might have been serious to him, had he not immediately left the Papal dominions."
The title "Il Diavolo! Il Diavolo!" remained with Sir Francis for the rest of his life.
Another story further explains his growing distain for Christianity. One night after the event in the Sistine Chapel his tutor was awakened by terrible screams coming from his masters chamber. Investigating he found Sir Francis staring outside at four gleaming green eyes accompanied by a terrible screeching and wailing. Sir Francis was convinced that this was a four-eyed devil that had come to haunt him because of his actions. The more worldly-wise tutor recognized instantly that it was simply two cats fighting outside his quarters, but decided not to explain this to Sir Francis and instead went along with his misconceptions in an attempt to get him to see the error of his ways. The tutor's ploy worked for a time and against his genuine inclinations Sir Francis became a convert to Catholicism. Eventually the tutor's plan backfired for when Sir Francis found out about his deception, it served only to fuel an intense dislike of organized religion
Sir Francis made friends easily and had a charming manner when it suited him. He began to collect about himself a core of like-minded friends of power, influence and distinction. They listened with interest to what he told them about his religious beliefs. It was from these elite friends that in 1751, he founded a brother-hood of men, an Order he named after himself called – “The Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe” also known variously as: “The Knights of St Francis”, "The Monks of Medmenham" or “The Hell-fire Club”. The group shared in all his loves and appetites for the cultural arts, as well as those for - Sex, drink, food, dressing up, politics, blasphemy and the occult.
The order originally met at Sir Francis’ lavish home, West Wycombe House. But this was his family home and not really suitable for the revelry and festivities he envisioned for the new group. He began to cast about for a more secluded and private place to hold its meetings. He found the perfect site through his friendship with a local painter Francis Duffield. The Duffield family had inherited an old and disused 12th century Cistercian monastery called “Medmenham Abbey”. It was situated in a secluded grove by a stretch of the river Thames near Marlow, about six miles away from West Wycombe and twenty miles west of London. It seemed perfect for what he wanted and he took over the lease from Duffield.
To preserve secrecy, instead of using local labour Sir Francis sent in his own builders and gardeners from his estate in West Wycombe and transformed the abbey into a Clubhouse. A square tower was added to the southeast corner of the building with a cloister of three arches along the side facing the river. Stained-glass windows of an ecclesiastical nature replaced the existing plain ones and frescos painted by “Giuseppi Borgnis” decorated the inside. At one end of the dining room stood a figure of Harpocrates the Egyptian god of silence with a finger to his lips, and at the other end the figure of the obscure goddess Angerona in the same pose. Over the main entrance to the abbey, inscribed in Latin was the motto of the order “Fay Ce Que Voudras”, meaning "Do As You Will" (a quotation from Francois Rabelais fictional abbey of Thélème). Maurice-Louis Jolivet then re-planed and designed all the gardens.
The initiates of the inner order were limited to thirteen men, Sir Francis known as the “Abbot” and his 12 “Apostles”, all other members of the order were known simply as “Monks” hence the “Monks of Medmenham”. They are thought to have worshipped the Goddess in her orgiastic mood. Only men of importance were admitted for initiation into the inner order, and these included some of the most powerful men of the day: the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Queensberry, Sir John Stuart the Earl of Bute (later Prime Minister), Sir John Montagu the Earl of Sandwich, George Bubb Dodington (later Lord Melcombe), John Wilkes (the Reformer), Sir Henry Vansittart, Robert Lloyd (Poet), George Selwyn, Charles Churchill (Poet), William Hogarth (Painter), John Tucker (M.P.) and Thomas Potter (M.P. and son of a former Archbishop of Canterbury). The administrator of the order was the poet Paul Whitehead who kept the records, and who at the very end of his life destroyed them with his own hands, ensuring that the rituals of the order should never be known.
http://www.controverscial.com/Sir%20Fr6.jpg
Written and compiled by George Knowles.
Sir Francis Dashwood is one of those colourful characters from our past whose life was shrouded in controversy, half-truths and gossip. During his day it was widely rumoured that he and his group were evil Devil worshippers, Satanist’s up to all sorts of diabolical doings, rituals and orgies, many of which in today’s more enlightened times, few if any people would even raise an eye brow. He was an aristocrat and a man of influence but also the rogue of his day, he reveled in his indulgences living his life to the full and not giving a damn for the consequences. As such his name and that of his order was just the stuff on which legend was founded. This is the life story of Sir Francis Dashwood and the “Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe”.
During 1729 Sir Francis took another tour this time starting in Italy, and it was here that the future Dashwood of legend was formed. Italy at that time was a hotbed of occultism and Sir Francis reveled in his study of the forbidden arts and was particularly drawn to the Eleusinian mysteries. He was also greatly influenced by the work of Francois Rabelais and his fictional Abbey of Thélème. One story that became legend tells of his rakish sense of humour particularly in relation to his mockery of religion. His tutor the Catholic Jacobite ever disdainful of his promiscuous behavior, insisted on taking Sir Francis to the Sistine Chapel hoping to instill some form of respect for Christianity. Sir Horace Walpole (the 4th Earl of Orford) witnessed the event and wrote:
"It was on Good-Friday when each person who attends the service in the Sistine Chapel, as he enters takes a small scourge from an attendant at the door. The chapel is dimly lighted and there are three candles which are extinguished by the priest one by one: at the putting out of the first, the penitents take off one part of their dress; at the next, still more; and in the darkness which follows the extinguishing of the third candle, lay on their shoulders with groans and lamentations. Sir Francis Dashwood thinking this mere stage effect, entered with others dressed in a large watchman’s coat, demurely he took his scourge from the priest and advanced to the end of the chapel, where, on the darkness ensuing, he drew from beneath his coat an English horsewhip and flogged right and left quite down the chapel and made his escape, the congregation exclaiming "Il Diavolo! Il Diavolo!" thinking the evil one was upon them with a vengeance. The consequences of this frolic might have been serious to him, had he not immediately left the Papal dominions."
The title "Il Diavolo! Il Diavolo!" remained with Sir Francis for the rest of his life.
Another story further explains his growing distain for Christianity. One night after the event in the Sistine Chapel his tutor was awakened by terrible screams coming from his masters chamber. Investigating he found Sir Francis staring outside at four gleaming green eyes accompanied by a terrible screeching and wailing. Sir Francis was convinced that this was a four-eyed devil that had come to haunt him because of his actions. The more worldly-wise tutor recognized instantly that it was simply two cats fighting outside his quarters, but decided not to explain this to Sir Francis and instead went along with his misconceptions in an attempt to get him to see the error of his ways. The tutor's ploy worked for a time and against his genuine inclinations Sir Francis became a convert to Catholicism. Eventually the tutor's plan backfired for when Sir Francis found out about his deception, it served only to fuel an intense dislike of organized religion
Sir Francis made friends easily and had a charming manner when it suited him. He began to collect about himself a core of like-minded friends of power, influence and distinction. They listened with interest to what he told them about his religious beliefs. It was from these elite friends that in 1751, he founded a brother-hood of men, an Order he named after himself called – “The Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe” also known variously as: “The Knights of St Francis”, "The Monks of Medmenham" or “The Hell-fire Club”. The group shared in all his loves and appetites for the cultural arts, as well as those for - Sex, drink, food, dressing up, politics, blasphemy and the occult.
The order originally met at Sir Francis’ lavish home, West Wycombe House. But this was his family home and not really suitable for the revelry and festivities he envisioned for the new group. He began to cast about for a more secluded and private place to hold its meetings. He found the perfect site through his friendship with a local painter Francis Duffield. The Duffield family had inherited an old and disused 12th century Cistercian monastery called “Medmenham Abbey”. It was situated in a secluded grove by a stretch of the river Thames near Marlow, about six miles away from West Wycombe and twenty miles west of London. It seemed perfect for what he wanted and he took over the lease from Duffield.
To preserve secrecy, instead of using local labour Sir Francis sent in his own builders and gardeners from his estate in West Wycombe and transformed the abbey into a Clubhouse. A square tower was added to the southeast corner of the building with a cloister of three arches along the side facing the river. Stained-glass windows of an ecclesiastical nature replaced the existing plain ones and frescos painted by “Giuseppi Borgnis” decorated the inside. At one end of the dining room stood a figure of Harpocrates the Egyptian god of silence with a finger to his lips, and at the other end the figure of the obscure goddess Angerona in the same pose. Over the main entrance to the abbey, inscribed in Latin was the motto of the order “Fay Ce Que Voudras”, meaning "Do As You Will" (a quotation from Francois Rabelais fictional abbey of Thélème). Maurice-Louis Jolivet then re-planed and designed all the gardens.
The initiates of the inner order were limited to thirteen men, Sir Francis known as the “Abbot” and his 12 “Apostles”, all other members of the order were known simply as “Monks” hence the “Monks of Medmenham”. They are thought to have worshipped the Goddess in her orgiastic mood. Only men of importance were admitted for initiation into the inner order, and these included some of the most powerful men of the day: the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Queensberry, Sir John Stuart the Earl of Bute (later Prime Minister), Sir John Montagu the Earl of Sandwich, George Bubb Dodington (later Lord Melcombe), John Wilkes (the Reformer), Sir Henry Vansittart, Robert Lloyd (Poet), George Selwyn, Charles Churchill (Poet), William Hogarth (Painter), John Tucker (M.P.) and Thomas Potter (M.P. and son of a former Archbishop of Canterbury). The administrator of the order was the poet Paul Whitehead who kept the records, and who at the very end of his life destroyed them with his own hands, ensuring that the rituals of the order should never be known.