Post #22. A Dozen Dukes, a Baboon, and a Blasphemous Mass: The Hellfire Clubs of 18th-Century London
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Buy Now (Book Link) While the public face of 18th-century London was one of reason, order, and commercial propriety, its hidden face was one of aristocratic excess, blasphemy, and a dark, transgressive form of magic. This was the world of the hellfire clubs, secret societies of the rich and powerful who gathered to mock religion, indulge in debauchery, and, it was whispered, to worship the Devil himself. The most famous of these was the club founded by Sir Francis Dashwood, a man who was at once a Member of Parliament, a Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the high priest of a satanic cult. The Monks of Medmenham: A Satanic Parody Dashwood’s club, which he called the "Monks of Medmenham" or the "Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe," was a masterpiece of aristocratic, blasphemous theatre. He leased the ruins of a Cistercian abbey at Medmenham, on the banks of the Thames, and rebuilt it as a temple of sin. The abbey was decorated with pornographic art, and its chapel was ...