HISTORY OF SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS.
In the early ages of Christianity the honour of being deposited within the walls of the church was reserved to martyrs; and it was the request of the emperor Constantine in imitation of this holy mode of interment, that after his death, his remains might be allowed to lie in the porch of the basilica of the Apostles, which he himself had erected in Constantinople. Hence the eloquent Chrysostom, when speaking of the triumphs of Christianity, exultingly observes, in allusion to this circumstance, that the Cæsars, subdued by the humble fishermen whom they had persecuted, now appeared as suppliants before them, and gloried in occupying the place of porters at the doors of their sepulchres. Bishops and priests distinguished by their learning, zeal, and sanctity, were gradually permitted to share the honours of the martyrs, and to repose with them within the sanctuary itself. A pious wish in some to be deposited in the neighbourhood of such holy persons, and to rest under the shadow of the altars; in others an absurd love of distinction even beyond the grave; to which may be added, that the clergy, by making such a distinction expensive, rendered it enviable; so that by degrees, all the wholesome restrictions of antiquity were broken through, and at length the noblest public edifices, the temples of the Eternal, the seats of holiness and purity, were converted into so many dormitories of the dead.
Our present business is to investigate the antiquity and variety of sepulchral monuments, which have been erected as memorials of the illustrious dead, in the cathedral, conventual, and parish churches of this island. During the time of our Saxon ancestors, it is probable, that few or no monuments of this kind were erected; at least, being usually placed in the churches belonging to the greater abbeys, they felt the stroke of the general dissolution, and it is believed there are now scarcely any extant. Those we meet with for the kings of that race, such as Ina at Wells;[[59]] Osric, at Gloucester; Sebba and Ethelbert, which were in Old St. Paul’s, or where-ever else they may occur, are undoubtedly cenotaphs, erected in later ages by the several abbeys and convents of which these royal personages were the founders, in gratitude to such generous benefactors.
The period immediately after the conquest was not a time for people to think of such memorials for themselves, or friends. Few could then tell how long the lands they enjoyed would remain their own; and most indeed were put into the hands of new possessors, who, frequently, as we find in Domesday Book, held thirty or forty manors, or more, at a time. All then above the degree of servants, were soldiers, the sword alone made the gentleman, and accordingly on a strict inquiry, we shall meet with few or no monuments of that age, except for the kings, royal family, or some few of the chief nobility and leaders, among which, those for the Veres, Earls of Oxford, at Earl’s Colne, in Essex, are some of the most ancient. It is probable that this state of things, so far as regards sepulchral monuments, continued through the troublesome reign of Stephen, and during the confusion which prevailed while the barons’ wars subsisted, and until the ninth year of king Henry the third, 1224.
In that year Magna Charta being confirmed, and every man’s security better established, property became more dispersed, manors were in more divided hands, and the lords of them began to settle on their possessions in the country. In that age many parish churches were built, and it is not improbable that the care of a resting-place for their bodies, and monuments to preserve their memories, became more general and diffused.
In country parish churches, the ancient monuments are usually found either in the chancel, or in small chapels, or side aisles, which have been built by the lords of manors, and patrons of the churches, (which for the most part went together,) and being designed for burying places for their families, were frequently endowed with chantries, in which priests officiated, and offered up prayers for the souls of their founder and his progenitors.
The tracing out, therefore, of such founders, will frequently help us to the knowledge of an ancient tomb which is found placed near the altar of such chantries. If there are more than one, they are, probably, for succeeding lords, and where there have been found ancient monuments in the church, also, besides what are in such chapels or aisles, they may be supposed to have been erected in memory of lords, prior to the foundation of the buildings.