Fatal Vespers

Fatal Vespers

Contemporary engraving of an impression of the collapse of the interior
Date	26 October 1623 (1623-10-26) (O.S)
Time	afternoon
Location	Blackfriars, London
Coordinates	51°30′42″N 0°06′11″W / 51.5116°N 0.103°W / 51.5116; -0.103
Deaths	95
Inquiries	coroner's inquest

The Fatal Vespers was a 1623 structural collapse at Hunsdon House in Blackfriars, London, England, the official residence of the French ambassador. There were 95 fatalities when the floor of an upper room collapsed under the weight of three hundred people who were attending a Roman Catholic service. Protestant polemicists interpreted the disaster as evidence of divine opposition to Papism.