Product Description

Comprehensive survey of English royal tombs from Edward the Confessor to Henry VII, together with accounts of burial practice, tomb design and execution. The survey includes junior royals as well as kings and queens. Extensively illustrated.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #465548 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

About the Author
Mark Duffy studied History at Cambridge and Art History at the Courtauld Institute.

Customer Reviews

Great book
Not as morbid as the title may suggest. Medieval Christian tombs were not name-tag memorials like their modern counterparts, but elaborate monuments intended to prompt prayers for the soul of the deceased; they were the central part of a ritual which began at death and continued until Resurrection. They employed a variety of devices to ensure that prayers were said for the right soul: epitaphs, heraldry, family images and, most usually, an image of the deceased themself, either as effigy or incised in brass. This book looks at English royal tombs between 1066 and 1520, from Edward the Confessor to Henry VII. It is the first recent study to cover the entire medieval period, and the definition of royal is extended from kings and queens to their children and children's spouses. Specific accounts of more than 80 monuments, including several now lost, are combined with general discussions of burial location, ritual, tomb design and production. It aims to recreate the tombs as 'living' monuments, by asking what they said about the individuals who commissioned them. This is a big book, profusely illustrated with photographs and antiquarian engravings, the latter serving to reinstall many losses. Some of the most interesting sections are the discussions of burial ritual and wills revealing the preoccupations of the medieval mind, not least the importance of candles as symbols of prayer. John of Gaunt gave instructions for twenty-five giant candles to stand around his coffin arranged in various symbolic groupings representing the Commandments (ten), works of charity (seven), the wounds of Christ (five), and the Trinity (three). Gaunt's comrade-in-arms, Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster, gave instructions for five candles each weighing 100lbs together with one hundred smaller torches. One that will appeal to students of history and art history alike as well as the much broader audience of those who just like going around churches.

Tombs come alive with this book
Not as morbid as the title may suggest. Medieval Christian tombs were not name-tag memorials like their modern counterparts, but elaborate monuments intended to prompt prayers for the soul of the deceased; they were the central part of a ritual which began at death and continued until Resurrection. They employed a variety of devices to ensure that prayers were said for the right soul: epitaphs, heraldry, family images and, most usually, an image of the deceased themself, either as effigy or incised in brass. This book looks at English royal tombs between 1066 and 1520, from Edward the Confessor to Henry VII. It is the first recent study to cover the entire medieval period, and the definition of royal is extended from kings and queens to their children and children’s spouses. Specific accounts of more than 80 monuments, including several now lost, are combined with general discussions of burial location, ritual, tomb design and production. It aims to recreate the tombs as ’living’ monuments, by asking what they said about the individuals who commissioned them. This is a big book, profusely illustrated with photographs and antiquarian engravings, the latter serving to reinstall many losses. Some of the most interesting sections are the discussions of burial ritual and wills revealing the preoccupations of the medieval mind, not least the importance of candles as symbols of prayer. John of Gaunt gave instructions for twenty-five giant candles to stand around his coffin arranged in various symbolic groupings representing the Commandments (ten), works of charity (seven), the wounds of Christ (five), and the Trinity (three). Gaunt’s comrade-in-arms, Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster, gave instructions for five candles each weighing 100lbs together with one hundred smaller torches. One that will appeal to students of history and art history alike as well as the much broader audience of those who just like going around churches.