All Hallows Lecture 2023: Late Medieval Charnel and Monuments
When
Where
Online lecture
Bone and Stone for the Many and Few: Charnel and Associated Individual Monuments in Late Medieval England
In late medieval England, historic human remains were often disturbed during ongoing burial in crowded churchyards. While it was initially pragmatic to rebury these remains ad hoc, 1274AD’s papal endorsement of purgatory imbued charnel with new theological symbolism. This led to the ‘charnel chapel’ developing as a specific form of communal chantry chapel, which was both pragmatic and theologically significant. By housing disarticulated lay remains in dedicated crypts with associated altars, charnel chapels curated both bodily and spiritual remains – aiding the souls of the dead through purgatory, while safeguarding their bones ahead of the resurrection. Not all those destined for the charnel house were disarticulated and anonymous, however. Several such chapels also contained the charnel-associated burials and monuments of named high status individuals. This talk will begin by providing an introduction to charnelling in late medieval England, exploring how and why the dead were stored and curated in this way. Following this, attention will turn to why some high status individuals sought specific association with charnel in death, and what more this might tell us about the significance of charnel and charnelling in late medieval England.
Note: Please be advised that this presentation will include images of historic human skeletal remains.
Thomas J. Farrow is studying for a PhD at the University of Liverpool that is attached to the UKRI ‘The Human Remains’ project. His doctoral research deals with charnelling in postmedieval England, while his previous and forthcoming publications concern charnelling and adjacent practices in late medieval and early modern England, and postmedieval Europe.
This lecture is part of our All Hallows 2023 autumn series of lectures. For details of the rest of the series, and our other events, go to https://churchmonumentssociety.org/events .
Event Information
This online talk is FREE to all and will take place on Zoom. Places must be booked via Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/church-monuments-society-annual-all-hallows-lecture-2023-registration-704456677887?aff=oddtdtcreator. This is one of a series of online talks delivered by the Church Monuments Society for Autumn 2023.
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Image: Charnel in the crypt of Holy Trinity Church, Rothwell, Northamptonshire. Photographed by S. Randall, Desborough, c.1900-1910 – speaker’s collection.