We will examine various later medieval English effigies (many of related individuals) in order to learn the clues the effigies leave about the lives of the deceased.

In general, the purpose of an effigy or tomb monument of this era was to help speed the journey of the soul of the deceased from Purgatory into (hopefully!) Heaven via the intercessory prayers of those who happened by the tomb. The idea was that, as the pious visitor happened by the various tombs of the faithful at the local parish church or abbey or cathedral, the person would read the inscription, think of the deceased, and offer a quick prayer on behalf of his or her soul. For this purpose, it was not necessary that the passers-by were cognizant of the facial features or even life history of the deceased; they needn't even personally knew or be related to the deceased. No, it was simply only necessary that the intercessor vocally or privately invoke the name of the deceased in prayer on behalf of the soul of the tomb's occupant. Many of these tombs even provided funding for which which priests were paid presumably in perpetuity for such prayers.

Hence, many tombs of this era have on them somewhere an inscription recording the name, or other identifying feature of the deceased. Let's begin with talking about the brass effigy monument of Katherine Roet Swynford (ca. 1350 - 1403). The requisite inscription of Katherine's tomb is recorded as "Icy gist ...." which translates in short as "here lies Katheryn Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster, who died ... may God have pity on her soul...". The primary purpose of a later medieval-era tomb therefore was less to glorify the life led by its occupant than to secure a peaceful repose in the hereafter as the result of the thoughtful individuals who happened by the final resting place of the deceased.

Click on any of the lozenge-shaped shields above to learn more about the particular identifying features of medieval tombs to continue!