Religion

Walter St John: a background

A short introduction to the main characters in the 16th-century tragedy of Walter St John and Isaac Daubeney, pupil and teacher. The portrait is of Walter's younger brother, John, aged 17; he was very close in age to Walter. The portrait was kindly provided by Lydiard Tregoze house.

Elie Brevint on witchcraft

Elie Brevint (1587-1674) was minister of Sark from 1612. His father Cosmé, also a minister, was a Huguenot refugee from Angoulême who had accompanied Helier De Carteret from Jersey in his colonisation of Sark. Transcriptions and microfilm of Elie's 14 Notebooks, which were found in a loft in Sark in the 19th century, are held in the Priaulx Library. Elie appears to be a sensible and rational man with a curious and detached mind, until he turns to these sorts of subject: the Pousseresse, perturbateurs, and salamanders. The illustration is of the Tormento do Tacto, or Torture, from Alexander Périer's O Desengano dos Pecadores of 1724, in the Library.

A priest takes refuge in Alderney and Guernsey, 1792-93

Extracts from 'Relation du voyage en Angleterre de Monsieur Lefebvre d'Anneville, Curé de Sotteville (près les Pieux)', from Notices, memoires et documents de la Société d'agriculture, d'archéologie et d'histoire naturelle du Départment de la Manche (1924). The author was one of 142 Catholic priests who fled persecution in France and came to Alderney in 1792. The photograph shows the Le Mesuriers' Les Mouriaux House as it is today.

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