The Unique Nature of the Epitaph Tomb: A Mini-Essay

     Between the eleventh and eighteenth centuries, a unique vault – the epitaph tomb – emerged in the churches of Europe. A small slab nestled in either the interior or exterior walls, these enclosures, some as small as eight inches by sixteen inches, possessed small placards on their openings that served as epitaphs for the deceased individual’s remains found within.[1] What made these tombs distinctive, in turn, was their function. In an effort to save space as mounting numbers of corpses filled the churches’ charnels and garrets, these small inserts served as compact crypts where the dried-out bones of the dead were permanently deposited after their time in the cemetery.[2] As time progressed, these epitaph tombs fell out of favor; however, they provided the model for the sarcophagus mausoleums found in contemporary cemeteries.[3] 

Works Referenced

Ariès, Philippe. The Hour of Our Death: The Classic History of Western Attitudes Toward Death Over the Last One Thousand Years. 1977. Trans. Helen Weaver. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2000.
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[1] Ariès, 234.
[2] Ariès, 234.
[3] Ariès, 234.