medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture There's no doubt that is, as it were, their primary intent. There are indeed several surviving wills and inscriptions specifying such: a complete list (with extracts) is in Pamela King, ‘Contexts of the Cadaver Tomb in Fifteenth Century England’ (University of York, PhD thesis, 1987).

But - a propos Jim's comments (and for his refs and further refs I'm v grateful) - these things can surely work on more than one level, and indeed at any one time vary from patron to patron. Just as the medieval great church is not 'simply' an image of the Heavenly Jerusalem or a liturgy-driven 'machine for worshipping in' or an emblem of the power and wealth of the community that worshipped it, or (I coud go on) so medieval tombs can surely work on several levels. After all they are plainly emblems of social types and social status, but also images that encourage prayer for the soul of the person commemorated, resulting in concerns both social/political and spiritual/religious that could work together to define the imagery they display. And so I do think the question of whether the resurrection is one of these is worth discussion: Jim's right, however about (occasional) the little souls, and the nakedness: these are points well made.

Jon

> Date: Tue, 5 Jan 2010 13:26:58 -0500
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [M-R] Resurrection Bodies?
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Are the transi tombs more connected with the Memento mori / Ars
> moriendi? I am reminded of the Wakeman centotaph at Tewksbury Abbey,
> described thus on a web page I just found:
> "This figure represents the usual 15th century effigy of a corpse in an
> advanced state of decay. The difference with this one against others is
> that this is a rare "Verminous Cadaver" with a mouse gnawing at his
> bowels, a snake in his shroud near his feet, a worm on his left knee, a
> beetle on his left arm and a frog near his head. There is also what is
> thought to be a lizard on his left thigh. Wakeman was consecrated as the
> first Bishop of Gloucester in 1541 and is buried elsewhere."
> This is the URL, but I could not get the pictures to display:
> http://www.churchmousewebsite.co.uk/cadavertombs/tewkesbury_cadaver.htm
> Tom Izbicki
>
> Dr Jim Bugslag wrote:
> > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
> >
> > Jon Cannon wrote:
> >> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
> >> culture ...I like the term 'social body' for the late medieval
> >> effigies one finds on transi tombs. I've recently studied one of
> >> these in detail - John Carpenter, bp. of Worcester, to be published
> >> by the Bristol Record Society later this year. In this case there is
> >> (and probably never was) a 'social body', just a cadaver with mitre
> >> and staff to indicate status in life. But the (lost but
> >> reconstructable) architectural and iconographic setting for this tomb
> >> strongly suggests a 'Resurrection' layer of meaning, too, at least in
> >> this case.
> >>
> >> ...If these are the 'social bodies' of the people concerned, I wonder
> >> if we need another for the more standardised and idealised effigies
> >> of the C13/C14...
> >
> > In images of the Last Judgement, the Resurrected are generally shown
> > naked, although one occasionally sees a naked bishop wearing his mitre
> > or a naked king with his crown. One further factor that might argue
> > against the "Resurrection" state is that the Resurrected have, I
> > believe, not simply a perfectly resurrected body but also have their
> > souls reconjoined with those bodies, whereas from about the late 13th
> > century, one begins to get small images of a naked soul in the bosom
> > of Abraham in the canopywork sheltering the effigy. And in the case
> > of tomb brasses and other "floor tombs" the effigy is, if not intended
> > to be walked on, at least expected to be walked on -- which might
> > suggest that it was meant just to represent the mortal body rather
> > than the Resurrected one. Another factor, certainly, is the lack of
> > any naturalistic portrait for an effigy before about the late 14th
> > century.
> >>
> >> ...In England there is a particularly inventive (and thus
> >> instructive) phase in the earlier C14, when we get figures with their
> >> eyes open (Bristol) or twisting on a bed of rocks, apparently about
> >> to rise up and draw a sword (Burrough Green, Reepham, Ingham); these
> >> presumably related to the much-studied and extraordinary C13
> >> sword-reaching effigies (eg Dorchester abbey and elsewhere). If
> >> *these* chaps are depicted in the moment of resurrection, their
> >> defensive reaction may not sit well when Judgement begins!
> > When it comes right down to it, there are a lot of anomalies in
> > funerary effigies, and this probably, to some extent, registers
> > broader anomalies concerning what happens to souls between death and
> > the Last Judgement. Even at the "official" level of theology, there
> > does not appear to have been a clear single position on many aspects
> > of eschatology.
> >>
> >> ... I am interested to learn that Panofsky talks of family tombs with
> >> kids in the C14. I can't think of them in England. Tomb with
> >> 'weepers', yes, but not specifically kids. In any case, I presume
> >> even our medieval people didn't think dead children would be
> >> resurrected at age 33! ... (though nothing would suprise me...)
> >
> > There are lots of English family brasses.
> > Cheers,
> > Jim
> >>
> >
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