Antiquaries have now become aware that church monuments are only one aspect of the programme of commemorating the dead in medieval Europe. Catholic theology and devotion stressed the continuity of family, parish and nation with those who had died; the doctrine of the communion of saints means that the living Church (the ‘Church militant’) is not separated from its former members, whether they be still in purgatory (the ‘Church suffering’) or safely in heaven (the ‘Church triumphant’). The ancient understanding of purgatory, and of prayer for the dead, expounded by St Augustine, was refined in the high Middle Ages, and defined in the later Middle Ages, partly in the context of the attempts at re-union with the Eastern Church.

Augustine (quoted on p. 25) says of the dead that ‘we make supplication for them through the sacrifices of the altar, of prayers, of almsgiving’. These three modes of commemoration were (and are) the most important aspects of what has come to be called memoria, the ways in which the living could help those who were being purified and cleansed in purgatory. Church monuments, which Augustine also recommends, are there to remind people, when they come to church, to help the dead, by asking for mass to be said for them, by their own prayers and by their generosity to those in need.

In successive chapters, Sally Badham looks at the different ways in which these obligations were carried out. First come good works in the community: the essential Christian virtue of charity could be carried out by the very poorest, who can contribute food and clothing to those in need, but the rich might found hospitals, schools and almshouses, such as survive at Ewelme, Oxfordshire (plates 21, 26). Other practical benefactions included roads and bridges, for the convenience and safety of everyone, such as the bridge at Petherton (Somerset) where figures of the donors survive (plate 24). Yet few of these benefactions survived the rapacity of the Tudor monarchs.

Next came the construction and furnishing of churches. Again, this benefitted the entire parish, for the church was enhanced for everyone. Fittings of all types suffered enormously from the destructive years of Edward vi: all the lamps have gone, virtually all the statues, the painted altar-pieces and screens, the vestments and hangings, the candlesticks, thuribles, chalices and patens … all confiscated, melted down or burnt. Only the windows survive in any number, for glass was always needed, and painted figures and inscriptions often survived simply because the parish could not afford to replace them. Fonts also continued in use, though carvings and inscriptions were often defaced (plates 60–3).

An intangible form of memoria, considered the most important of all, was provision for the sacrifice of the mass to be celebrated for the dead, as St Augustine had recommended. Every mass contains a memento for the living, those present as well as those mentioned in particular, and similarly for the dead, those mentioned and all who sleep in Christ. At a mass celebrated specifically for the dead they are named aloud, and appropriate scriptural texts are laid down. By ancient custom, later codified, an offering is customary to support of the priest. This may be for a single celebration of the mass, or for mass to be celebrated on future occasions: every year on the anniversary, every month, or (for the very rich and therefore very sinful) every day, either for a number of years, or in perpetuity. The endowment for such offerings is known as a ‘chantry’ foundation. For a daily commemoration, a purpose-built chapel could be constructed. The windows of the Wilcote chantry chapel at North Leigh, Oxfordshire (plate 20) contain the letters of the alphabet, a reminder that the chantry priest, after his mass and office, spent the rest of the day teaching the village children.

The divine office, the daily round of Psalms, hymns and prayers, can also have a commemorative form, so that after a funeral, on the anniversary or other occasions, the vigils and vespers of the dead were sung. The first antiphon of Vigils begins with the word ‘Dirige’, hence a ‘dirge’, that of Vespers with ‘Placebo’. Extracts from these offices are often inscribed on tombs (p. 137). Laypeople who could read often attended these Offices: others recited the rosary instead. Part of a chantry foundation might include a regular donation of food, clothing and candle to the poor who gathered round the tomb to pray. These are the ‘bedesmen’ who feature on many monuments, such as the drowsy pair on the front cover of this book.

The most lavish commemorative foundations were collegiate churches, usually established in an existing parish, with greatly enlarged buildings. A college could comprise minor clergy, those in training, as well as priests, who would sing the mass and the entire divine office daily in the elaborate choir-stalls which often survive in rural churches. The clergy also carried out pastoral work in the parish, including teaching and tending the sick. These institutions were so obviously ‘useful’ that they survived the greed of Henry viii, but Edward vi successfully seized them and their endowments precisely because the first stated purpose of a college was to pray for the dead.

All this finally puts church monuments in context. The brasses, incised slabs and effigies that have been so thoroughly studied in isolation were only parts of larger schemes. Tombs were placed in churches precisely so that priest and people might remember to pray for the dead, and the inscriptions were explicit about this intention.

Most of the illustrations for this book are digital photographs taken recently by C. B. Newham: the publisher is to be congratulated on being able to print such a large number of colour plates, sensibly kept together on suitable paper at the end. A ‘Handsome Volume’, as they used to say.