Medieval Tombs : The Index

  As the medieval tombs series is trundling along to infinity, it seems smart to put in an index page for it. I am doing the same for some of my other themed posts.

What's With Medieval Tombs?
1. Introduction. What it says on the tin, with particular reference to the concept of liminality and its codification in the medieval Christian concept of purgatory.
2. Knights. An introduction to the depiction of knights on effigy tombs and how they embody the liminal state of death.
3. Oddments. A ramble around styles of tombs other that three dimensional effigies: brasses, incised slabs, floriated crosses and other non-effigy tombs.
4. Cadavers. An exploration of a style of tomb which seems a bit weird to the modern mind; the depiction of the deceased as a decomposing corpse.
5. Royalty. A tour of the tombs of the trendsetters of mortuary fashion, with some surprising observations.
6. Clergy. An introduction to the particular characteristics of the depiction of members of the clergy on tombs.
7. Civilian Males. Social changes meant that not everyone who could afford a fancy tomb was entitled to a suit of armour. Here are some examples of what else gave you status in the later middle ages.
8. Isolated Alabasters. A tour of the amazing collection of alabaster tombs in Harewood church, and what questions they raise about population, society, historical identification and the meaning of life.
9. The Process of Death. All about how medieval funerary commemoration was not an event but an extended process, including what sometimes happened with the bodies.
10. Heraldry on Tombs. The significance of the use of heraldry, often quite lavishly, on tombs.
11. Low Relief and Half Sunk Effigies. While many effigies fit into very stylised and recognisable classes, there are some unusual variants, although they do fall into a class of their own.
12. The Aesthetics of Armour. How practical changes to armour made effigies of knights ever less beautiful.
13. Female Fashion. In the 14th and 15th centuries fashion became a thing, reflected in minute detail in the tombs of ladies.
14. What Happened to Them During the Middle Ages. Not all the destruction of tombs was due to Henry VIII's henchmen, iconoclasts and puritans. It can be argued that they had built in obsolescence from the start.
15. Children on Medieval Tombs. Dead children were rarely commemorated on medieval tombs, and when they do appear there they may not even have been dead at the time.
16. Memorials in Glass. Stained glass windows could also serve as funerary memorials in various ways.
17. Identification and Dating. Some tricks, traps and anomalies in identifying those commemorated on tombs.
18. Animals on Tombs (1). First part of a look at how animals are depicted on tombs and what they signify.
19. Animals on Tombs (2). More about animals on tombs and how to do a rebus.
20. Owning the Church. About competition and claiming of church spaces
21. Brass Rubbings - Perfect Facsimiles? How brass rubbings have changed the way we see monumental brasses.
22. Bling on Tombs

  This page will continue to grow as I meander through this theme. Might eventually even end up with something.