Did you know? A man who was hanged for his part in the Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Plot had his skin removed, and it was used to bind a book that listed his offenses.

The Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Plot is a well-known event in English history. In 1605, a group of conspirators planned to blow up the House of Lords during the state opening of Parliament, hoping to kill King James I and his government. Among the plotters was a man named William Harrison, who was hanged for his participation in the plot. However, it is what happened to Harrison’s body after his death that is particularly gruesome.

According to historical accounts, after Harrison was hanged, his skin was removed from his body and tanned to preserve it. The skin was then turned into leather and used to bind a copy of a book that listed his offenses. The book was called “The Popish Plot,” and it detailed the supposed Catholic conspiracy to overthrow the monarchy and impose Catholicism on England. The book was later displayed in Oxford’s Bodleian Library, where it remains today.

The idea of using human skin to bind books is not unheard of in history, but it is certainly disturbing. The practice, known as anthropodermic bibliopegy, was more common in the 17th and 18th centuries, when skin was often taken from executed criminals or cadavers donated to medical schools. The use of human skin was thought to make the book an object of fear and reverence, as well as symbolize the punishment the criminal received.

However, the use of human skin in bibliopegy has long been condemned as unethical and a violation of human dignity. Today, the practice is illegal and highly taboo, and the few existing examples are often kept hidden or destroyed.

The fate of William Harrison’s skin-bound book serves as a dark reminder of the brutal punishment meted out to those involved in the Gunpowder Plot. It also highlights the disturbing practice of using human skin as a binding material, a macabre tradition that thankfully belongs to the distant past. Today, we must acknowledge the terrible violence and injustice of history, while also respecting the dignity and humanity of all people, even those who have committed heinous acts.