GEN-MEDIEVAL-L Archives
Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 2004-05 > 1084946983
From: (Peter Stewart)
Subject: Re: [OT] her bowels ? was Re: Another C.P.Addition: Maud de Vaux, wife of William de Roos
Date: 18 May 2004 23:09:43 -0700
References: <547EC375.60AE33F2.007FA2F6@aol.com>
wrote in message news:<>...
> In a message dated 5/18/2004 2:04:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time, writes:
>
> > "He married Maud, younger daughter (and in 1287 coh.) of John de Vaux, son of Sir Oliver de Vaux. She probably predeceased her husband, and was buried in Pentney Priory, Norfolk, her bowels in the wall at Belvoir."
>
> Ugh. Was it common for someone to have their bowels buried seperately ?
It was usual for the abdominal organs to be removed from cadavers -
mainly to avoid disgusting mishaps, that are recorded at some funerals
(that of Louis XIV's cousin, la Grande Mademoiselle, being a
particularly gruesome example - although she had already been
dissected).
Burial of the heart and/or lights in a different place from the corpse
was not unusual. Some people's remains were divided in several
locations, e.g. to pilgrimage sites, or in the case of great
personages might be given to various religious houses that sometimes
competed for the honour of housing a common benefactor's bones. Saints
were occasionally cut up into quite small pieces, so that their relics
could be shared or, indeed, traded.
Peter Stewart
This thread: