Issue 39 Sept 23 - Journal - Page 88
as well as an escape route via a back staircase. A priest hole,
accessible by a trapdoor beneath the floor of a cupboard,
provided a hiding space for Charles when armed soldiers
turned up at the house. The ‘King’s Bed’, upon which
Charles managed to get some sleep, fully clothed, also
remains in the hall today.
The King is understood to have consulted books in
Huddleston’s library and it is likely that the missal - now
complete with evocative drops of candle wax on some pages
- would have been one of them. Following nine years of
exile and the restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Charles
made Huddleston chaplain to his Catholic mother, Queen
Henrietta Maria, and later to his Catholic Portuguese wife,
Catherine of Braganza.
Charles summoned Fr Huddleston to his bedside at
Whitehall Palace in London in 1685, as he lay dying.
Huddleston heard the king’s confession, administered the
Eucharist and received him into the Catholic Church. The
Duke of York is believed to have said that Huddleston saved
the king’s life twice: first his body, then his soul.
The missal joins a collection that includes portraits of
Thomas Whitgreave, the owner of the hall at the time, and
of Fr Huddleston, as well as a letter King Charles II sent to
a young local woman, Jane Lane, thanking her for helping
him escape to France.
Sarah Kay, Cultural Heritage Curator, said: “We’re
delighted to have secured this important book which is
central to the story of Moseley. If we hadn’t acquired it, it
is likely to have gone into private hands and not been
accessible by the public. Displaying and interpreting the
missal will provide a compelling focus and renewed
impetus for telling the story of Charles II’s remarkable
escape.”
Tim Pye, National Curator, said: “The Huddleston Missal
is a wonderful acquisition for Moseley Old Hall. Not only
is the 1623 edition of the Missale Romanum a rare book
- just one other complete copy is recorded in UK libraries
- it is also crucial for our understanding of how Roman
Catholic books were used and circulated at a time when
it was dangerous to be anything other than Anglican.
“The way in which Huddleston has inscribed and
annotated his missal highlights just how precious and
personal this book would have been to him.”
The Missal was previously owned by Joseph J Procter who
paid a Liverpool bookshop just sixpence for it, in the late
1950s. Mr Procter’s family have visited Moseley Old Hall
to view the book and expressed their delight at it now
being on public display.
For further information and opening times visit
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/moseley-old-hall
Above, An engraving depicting the resurrection of Christ by Jaspar Isaac (d.1654), a Flemish engraver based in Paris. Several
Isaac engravings are included in the missal. National Trust Images_James Dobson
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