Defenestration
From Free net encyclopedia
- For the heavy metal band, see Defenestration (band).
Defenestration is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window. The word comes from the Latin de ("from; out of") and fenestra ("window"). Merriam-Webster's dictionary users named it as one of their favorite words of the year in 2004. [1]
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Defenestration in history
Historically, defenestration was used as an act of political dissent. Notably, the Defenestrations of Prague (1419 and 1618) helped trigger prolonged conflict within Bohemia and beyond. Catholics ascribed the survival of those defenestrated at Prague Castle in 1618 to divine intervention, while Protestants claimed that it was due to their landing in a large pile of manure.
In March 1948, Czechoslovak politician Jan Masaryk was found dead in the courtyard of the Foreign Ministry, below his bathroom window. A 2004 police investigation into his death concluded that, contrary to the initial ruling, he did not commit suicide, but was murdered by his opponents. His death is therefore sometimes called the third of the Defenestrations of Prague.
- In the Bible, there is an account in 2 Kings 9:30-33 of Queen Jezebel who is defenestrated as part of the overthrow of Ahab's tyranical reign.
- It has been suggested by several chronicles (notably the Annuals of Westhide Abbey) that King John killed his nephew, Arthur of Brittany, by throwing him from a window in the castle at Rouen, France, in 1203.
- In 1383, Bishop Dom Martinho was defenestrated by the citizens of Lisbon, having been suspected of conspiring with the enemy when Lisbon was besieged by the Castilians.
- In 1572, French King Charles IX's friend, the Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny was killed in accordance with the wishes of Charles' mother, Catherine de Medici. Charles had allegedly said "then kill them all that no man be left to reproach me." Thousands of Protestants were killed in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre after soldiers attacked Coligny in his house, stabbed him, and threw him out the window.
- The Revolutions of 1848 in France led to a period of unrest in Germany. When an agitated crowd forced their way into the town hall in Cologne on March 3, two city councillors panicked and jumped out of the window; one of them broke both his legs. The event went down in the city’s history as the "Cologne Defenestration".
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Defenestration in popular culture
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Movies
- In Rear Window (1954), Lars Thorwald defenestrates L.B. Jeffries.
- In Diamonds Are Forever (1971), henchmen working with Mr. Wint & Mr. Kidd defenestrate Plenty O'Toole.
- In The Exorcist (1973), the devil defenestrates Burke Dennings, and Father Karras defenestrates the devil/himself.
- In The Eagle Has Landed (1976), the patrons of a pub defenestrate Liam Devlin.
- In Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Darth Vader, before revealing his parentage to Luke Skywalker, defenestrates Luke during the final lightsaber duel.
- In Die Hard (1988), John McClane attracts the attention of Sgt. Al Powell by defenestrating Marco, and later defenestrates Hans Gruber, the leader of the "terrorists".
- In Child's Play (1988), the 1st victim of the movie, Maggie (the babysitter) is defenestrated from a great height on Chicago's north side Lincoln Park, from the apartment's windowed tower.
- In Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Friar Tuck defenestrates a Bishop, after accusing him of corruption.
- In Braveheart (1995), Longshanks (King Edward I) defenestrates his son's High Councillor, Philip.
- In Toy Story (1995), Sheriff Woody defenestrates Buzz Lightyear.
- In Hannibal (2001), Hannibal Lecter defenestrates Rinaldo Pazzi.
- In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), Mace Windu is defenestrated through Chancellor Palpatine's office window by Palpatine's force lightning.
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Television
- There is an example of defenestration in every episode of Due South.
- In the second episode of Firefly, Malcom Reynolds is thrown through a holographic window, albeit fairly harmlessly.
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Comics
- In Hitman, a comic book by Garth Ennis, there is character known as Defenestrator. His "power" consists of carrying around a plate glass window and throwing people through it.
- In Watchmen (1986), Edward Blake is thrown out of a window in the first chapter.
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Music
- In the mid 1970s, rock band Led Zeppelin would rent out entire floors of hotels, where they originated many of rock's most famous legends of drunken excess by allegedly trashing the rooms, motorcycling in the halls, and defenestrating television sets.
- The word 'defenestrations' is used in the Tom Tom Club song Booming and Zooming to refer to use of an ejection seat in an aircraft:
- "We want no defenstrations today, okay?"
- "Defenestration" is the name of a song by Gundula Krause.
- "Defenestration" is also the name of a song by Storyboard.
- "Defenestration" is also the name of a song by Cryptopsy.
- There is also a song by Trout Fishing In America entitled "The Window" that features various nursery rhyme characters and description of the act of defenestrating them: "And threw them out the window, the window...".
- There is a free jazz band in Houston, Texas, called 'The Defenestration Unit'.
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External links
- Defenestration The Visual Experience - Visual Expression of Defenestration as seen in the movie Braveheart.
- The Jargon File - Computer-related usage of the word 'defenestration'
- Defenestration - Humor-oriented literary magazine.
- defenestrate - dictionary.com's Word of the Day for Tuesday January 25, 2000
- Defenestration Building - a large art installation in San Francisco, California
- The Bohemian rebels inspired some Philadelphia anarchists to publish a newspaper: the defenestrator.et:Defenestratsioon