- Can’t you see? The room is full of devils?
I was recently reading William Westons book ‘The autobiography of an Elizabethan’ which tells the story of his time as a fugitive Priest in England. I particularly noticed that Weston was a firm believer in what we would now call the ‘occult’. His descriptions of exorcisms and ghostly happenings reveal a belief, common in Tudor times, that the worlds of the spiritual mixed freely with that of mankind.
A room full of devils
Weston described an experience he had in 1588 when he was called to attend upon a dying man. When he tried to hear his confession the man cried that this would be impossible. When pressed the man admitted that he was eternally condemned to the Devil, Weston argued but was told;
“Can’t you see… the room is full of devils? Yes, here where we are. They’re in every nook and cranny. In the ceiling, in the walls. A thousand. More. Terrible black devils, with fearful faces. They mutter and terrify me. They go on and on. They’re savagely cruel”
William Weston
Having spent many years working in Hospitals I know that it is quite common for people to see this sort of vision when they are unwell. Nowadays we know that there are many medical conditions in which the sufferer can experience such visions. Of course, in the Tudor period, such symptoms would be seen as clear proof of spiritual activity.
Quite a good ghost story
Today, people are likely to be more skeptical, although I did recently hear quite a good ghost story – from a fellow disbeliever. I won’t say where I heard this, suffice it to say it was someone in an historic house, somewhere in England. This person, a guide to the house was showing a group around. In one room he was telling them about how the room was used in the past. One small girl in the party kept trying to interrupt and eventually he asked her what was the matter.
“Why don’t you listen to that man who is standing next to you?” she said, “What man” he replied, as he could see no-one standing next to him.
Pointing to his side she replied;
“That man – the one dressed in grey, the one who keeps pulling on your arm and is trying to tell you that you are getting things wrong!”
As I said, I am a disbeliever ( I think) but sometimes – I wonder, what do you think?
A ghost at Hampton Court?
Hampton Court interior : by John of Witney (click image)
Whilst on the subject of ghosts I thought it might be worth a look at some film taken at Hampton Court. The papers picked up on this story and labelled this the ghost of Henry VIII. If anything, to me this looked like a lady in Tudor dress, again – see what you think, we would love to hear your opinions on this & don’t forget to have a go at the poll below.
What a wonderful blog entry to introduce me to the blog! I came here from the Anglotopia blog and am so pleased to have found you!
On the subject of the Hampton Court Ghost footage, I wanted a third ticky box for “I don’t think that’s a ghost, but I do believe in ghosts.” I want to say it’s really tempting to thing that that is a ghost. I am sure that Hampton Court is full of ghosts, but I don’t think that was one. It seems to me that there are so many guides there, dressed in Tudor style, that that was indeed a lady in Elizabethan dress, possibly one of the guides closing the doors which had come open somehow. That’s just my guess. What really makes me think it’s not a ghost, is the fact that in order to get them closed properly she has to close them in order, and she does. A ghost wouldn’t fuss with that, they’d just slam shut again, regardless.
Now the doors themselves could have been opened by some unseen force, but not by her. I believe in ghosts, but not the kind you can see. I believe there are entities, the impressions of people, which can be very powerful if their need to affect the world is strong, or they can simply be a cold temperature in a room or a presence in an empty room. The stronger presences can do things like open and close doors or make howling noises or that sort of thing. But I don’t believe that ghosts can be seen.
Anyway, just my two cents worth! Thanks for the fascinating article, and again, so glad to have found you!
Hi
Really pleased that you like the blog, thanks for the comment!
I think I am uncertain about ghosts. I have heard some quite convincing tales but have never seen anything myself.
I suspect that you are right about the Hampton Court thing i.e. it was someone closing the fire door – but it makes a pretty good story so I put it in.
Anyway
Best wishes
Andy
Hi,
My friend (and fellow blogger) found your blog. I’m an aspiring historian myself (and she loves it too) and so whenever she finds an interesting blog, she sends it my way =) I love your posts!!
Regarding the Hampton Court ghost, I agree with “sphinxvictorian”!! If ghosts truly exist, which I’d like to believe in even though I’ve never seen one, I have no doubt that they would haunt places like Hampton Court or the Tower of London.
It definitely appears to be a women in an Elizabeth gown…and I also think she’s one of tour guides or employees there simply closing a door that was somehow opened. She appears too solid to be and her movements seem too precise to be an entity.
Thanks again for the article…it was so interesting =)
♥ Isalys
Book ♥ Soulmates
hello this blog helped me for the knoledge of tudors do in class I know all about tudors and tudor ghosts and I can’t wait to go to hampton cort tommorow
it is scerry
i love this stuff/tudor stufff