Dear Jim
Thank you for this.
My (very) tentative speculation about who is who, and where, is based on the
fact that the burials in the most significant spot are apparently merely
shrouded; whereas those in a less significant position - outside - are in
well built graves. So we have the humble (monks?) in the particularly
holy/expensive locations, and the grand (laity?) in the lesser position.
This remains idle speculation, however, and as you point out a lot will
depend on respective dates. I'm looking forward to finding these out (see a
forthcoming BBC "Meet the Ancestors", no less!).
As for the investigation of the process of expanding access to church
burial, the best I have found is Philippe Ariès' _The Hour of Our Death_
(trans. Helen Weaver, Penguin, London, 1981), although that's not all that
"systematic", and is largely based on French material. The latter's hardly a
problem in the present project, however: Lihou was a priory of Mont St
Michel.
Some of the references others have generously suggested might well be of
help - but whilst I'm not quite as isolated as the monks of Lihou were,
there's a fair bit of sea between me and any decent library!
Best wishes
Darryl
> The background to this is my colleague's excavation of the Priory of
> Lihou, off Guernsey, where she had encountered some quite splendid
> looking graves (mortared etc.) in what was probably the cemetery, and
> some quite humble ones (apparently just shrouded) within the priory
> church. I am wondering if these were of substantial lay benefactors,
> and monks, respectively.
>
> Dear Darryl,
> That would depend to a considerable extent on their dates. In the
> 12th century and earlier, one would expect only monastic
> superiors, founders (and perhaps their family members) and royalty to
> be buried within the church. Towards the end of the 13th century,
> the privilege of church burial was expanding rapidly, and many noble
> families took advantage of this during the 14th century to create
> family mausolea (eg. the Despensers at Tewkesbury, Enguerrand de
> Marigny at Ecouis in Normandy). And by the 15th century, it would
> appear that church burial had been made available to considerable
> numbers of middle class families associated with churches. To my
> knowledge, this process of expanding access to church burial has
> never systematically been investigated.
> Cheers,
> Jim Bugslag
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Dr D.M. Ogier
Island Archives Service
29 Victoria Road
St Peter Port
Guernsey GY1 1HU
British Isles
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