Memorials and commemoration in the parish churches of late medieval York.

The commemoration of individuals in the parish churches of late medieval York was
primarily embodied in chantdes, funerary monuments and windows, although other forms, such as
misericordes and roof bosses, were also included. This thesis is based on the evidence of late
sixteenth- to late eighteenth-century antiquarians who visited the parish churches and noted
monuments, windows and other church fittings, most of which no longer exist. In addition the thesis
uses medieval testamentary and other documentary evidence as well as surviving visual evidence to
flesh out a portrait of the commemorated, particularly with regard to their professional and social
activities.
Chapter 1 introducest he topic and discussesth e limits of the thesis,r eviews the secondary
literature on the topic and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the primary evidence, i. e. the
antiquarian evidence, the medieval documentary evidence and the surviving visual material. Chapter
2 sets the parish churches into their historical context and discusses the origins, development and
decay of the church fabrics. Chapter 3 discusses general problems of dating and identification, the
mechanics of commemoration, and the heraldic evidence; it then analyzes the evidence regarding the
commemorated to indicate the social categories involved in parish church commemoration, their
activities over the late medieval period and what factors they had in common; it discusses absent
social groups; it places commemoration into context by discussing the objects which were found in
the late medieval churches and by analyzing testamentary evidence of bequests to parish churches as
wells as to friaries and the Minster; the chapter concludes with an overview of commemorative
genres over time. Chapter 4 discusses the visual components of monuments and windows and their
development over time; the use of status symbols in commemorative panels; the iconography of
heraldry and merchants' marks; the role of inscriptions and scrolls; and the way in which all the
different components of memorials worked together. Chapter 5 concludes the thesis with some
observations about the interaction of religious and secular aims in the memorials and with
suggestions for further study. Two appendices are also included - the first contains a full
transcription of the antiquarian evidence on a church-by-church basis; the second lists the names of
the commemorated alphabetically and each entry includes biographical notes and details of their
commemoration in the parish churches.