Medieval Chantry Chapel

<p>The chantry -- a special often private chapel within a church dedicated to a particular benefactor or benefactor's family where prayers for the benefactor's soul were said -- was probably the most common and also one of the most distinctive of all late medieval religious foundations. These structures although much altered with time are still a very noticeable feature of many late medieval parish churches. However no systematic thorough or comparative examination has been undertaken to discover what they may reveal about contemporary devotion aspiration and planning. This is a void which this book seeks to fill. It shows how the use of archaeological approaches can illuminate aspects of medieval religious practice only hinted at in many historical documents; it also demonstrates how the structural and spatial analysis of former chantry chapels can shed light on the level of private and communal piety and reveal a wider more universal context to chantry foundation in the medieval parish church. In addition it discusses how various personal strategies for intercession shaped both chapel space and fabric and the ultimate effects of the Reformation on such structures.</p><p>Includes a selected gazetteer of chantry chapels.</p><p><br />Dr SIMON ROFFEY teaches in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Winchester.</p>