Comments on: Pius Thicknesse = Pope Pius XII, “Hitler’s Pope”?

By: John

John — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 17:21:38 +0000

That’s the first “Thicknesse” historical source for the name that I find credible, but, as you say, it seems a stretch from your thumbnail description to the finale’s Thicknesse.

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 17:10:57 +0000

Does the fact that Philip Thicknesse of the 18th century had a long career in the covert world of ciphers and codes (publishing a book on the subject in 1772) have anything to do with it.

He being a Jesuit, in fact ?

Must be sheer coincidence, of course.

By: D. J.

D. J. — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 03:28:43 +0000

Sorry, that last should’ve read “Barty Crouch, Sr.”–you probably guessed that.

By: D. J.

D. J. — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:22:41 +0000

Given the unsubtle allusions to fascism and WW2 that are common to the entire series, I think the papal symbolism of the name “Pius” is unlikely to be accidental, and thought so when I first read the book:

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.harry-potter/browse_thread/thread/789d60c063847ac4/11f61c7d092b7a02#11f61c7d092b7a02

I differ with your wholesale dismissal of the “Hitler’s Pope” thesis: on the other hand, I also disagree with a premise you and Rowling (and most other folks) seem to have in common, which is that anyone who fought on the side of the Axis during the war can only have been motivated by evil. The situation in Europe was much more complicated; millions of people and whole nations were boxed between Hitler and the equally evil Stalin, and who they fought for largely depended on who was more likely to plunder, starve and depopulate their own country. (Poland, of course, was raped by both at the same time, and then sequentially.)

If Rowling’s intention in the series was to create a realistic WW2 allegory, as a lover of history I have to say it was a spectacular failure. Yes, Voldemort and the Death Eaters are plausible stand-ins for fascist leaders. But the real war record of the Allies is nothing like Harry and his friends, or the Order. It was more comparable to Barty Crouch Jr. on his worst day, to the tenth power. And that’s the Western allies, I’m not even counting Stalin into the mix.

By: inked

inked — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:09:33 +0000

That article makes the linkage believable and likely, IMHO. With her work at Amnesty, Int’l, JK Rowling may have had enough information and access to make the connection. Her fondness for names and their significances in the text certainly suggest this is a valid connection.

By: John

John — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:41:28 +0000

After reading this article linked below that was a feature story in The Jerusalem Post about Pius XII's involvement with the Ustachi war crimes in Croatia, maybe we should re-open this discussion. If the Catholics make him a saint, the hundreds of thousands murdered in Croatian death camps will die another death. Mass grave of history: Vatican's WWII identity crisis

By: Charli

Charli — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:47:01 +0000

PS – RE: John ABaptist, Captain Philip Thicknesse was an ancestor of mine also. Interesting that she chose this name, I’d love to know why.

By: Charli

Charli — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:40:09 +0000

My Mums family name is Thicknesse, and I am wondering where JK Rowling go this name from? It is a name exclusive to our family, so I am perplexed how she plucked this surname out of thin air?

By: Elmtree01

Elmtree01 — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:30:21 +0000

Reading some of the suggestions (on various web sources) that imply Pius Thicknesse was Pope Pius, further indicates to me that if folks go looking for something, they’ll find it, whether it’s there or not.

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 20:35:39 +0000

I’m a little confused. Is Rowling a member of the Episcopal Church or the Church of Scotland? Posters here have said that she’s in the Episcopal Church, but the Harry Potter Lexicon says that she attends the Church of Scotland, and so does Wikipedia. Which is it?

Church of Scotland
JKR has said in several interviews that she attends the Church of Scotland [WEB LINK]. Since she gave her daughter Jessica a copy of Jessica Mitford’s WEB LINK – amazon.comHons and Rebels for her “christening” gift, it may be inferred that Jessica was baptized in the Church of Scotland after JKR returned to the United Kingdom when Jessica was only three months old. One article explicitly says that Jessica Rowling was christened in an Edinburgh congregation of the Church of Scotland, though a specific church was not cited (WP1).

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/muggle/encyc/muggle-c.html#church_of_scotland