Monument of Sir Robert de Vere; in Sudborough Church, Northamptonshire.

Thirteenth Century.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE doctrine of feuds, which originated in the military policy of the northern nations, was not completely established in this island till the close of the eleventh century, when a regular system, founded upon the suppositious principle that all lands were held of the crown, either directly or through the medium of some powerful lord, on render of feudal services, was introduced by the Norman Conqueror; and in the thirteenth century, notwithstanding frequent attempts had been made by the barons and people to re-establish the ancient Saxon laws, and abolish, or at least modify, the oppressive tenures imposed upon them,

in which they partly succeeded, the feudal system flourished in full vigour.

The nation then consisted of the clergy, possessing immense influence and wealth; the nobility and more powerful barons, who held their lands immediately of the crown; the inferior barons and knights, who held of their superior lords; and the burghers, or inhabitants of the cities and towns, who were chiefly engaged in trade: the remainder of the nation was composed of the peasantry, or villeins, who lived dependent on the lords of the soil, in a state little better, at times, than that of the most abject servitude.

At this period every person of the least importance in society was either an ecclesiastic, or else held his lands by military service, and on that account, of whatever grade, was bound to follow with his retainers his king or superior lord when called upon, completely equipped for war.

Such being the general state of society, it is not matter of astonishment that the only sculptured monuments of this century, besides the effigies of those of regal rank, should either represent ecclesiastics in their robes, or warriors clad in armour, or ladies of high degree.

The crusades, which continued to engage the attention of the different countries of Christendom, had, by the increase of social intercourse between the principal European nations, already effected a considerable change in the manners of the upper classes of society, and contributed also to the cultivation of literature and the progress of the arts.

The latter had already made their re-appearance in the republican states of Italy, where with the rise of freedom the revival of sculpture may be traced. Itinerant sculptors from Italy are supposed to have early traversed Europe

in the exercise of their art, and to have brought it to this country, since an advance of excellence in the sculptured designs of this period is very perceptible; and in the attitude of some of the monumental effigies of the thirteenth century, which are conceived to have been designed by or after these foreign artists, a graceful simplicity is preserved, and in the drapery a freedom of arrangement we do not always find in the more elaborate and finished productions of a succeeding age.

As the talents of the sculptor were chiefly employed on the decoration of religious structures, which were now continually being founded, or receiving additions, and thus obtained encouragement, the memory of those who had signalized themselves in military service, or had attained to eminence in the church, was attempted to be preserved by the practice, which gradually became more frequent, of sculpturing their effigies in stone, and placing such over their remains.

During the early part and middle of this century the monumental tombs were low, and the sides were plain and unornamented; the covers also, which were sculptured in high relief, with cumbent effigies in stone, were often shaped purposely to fit the coffins of which they formed the lids, gradually diminishing in width. Some tombs of this description, with effigies, appear beneath low unornamented arches, obtusely pointed, and formed within the substance of the church wall. These tombs have generally been assigned either to the founder of the church, or to some early benefactor; or, if the effigy be that of an ecclesiastic, to the first rector or incumbent.

On many tombs of this era over the heads of the cumbent effigies, particularly of ecclesiastics, are plain pedimentalshaped canopies, the earliest of which contain a pointed

trefoliated arched recess.

Such a one appears over the head of a monumental effigy of a bishop, in the Temple Church, London; but towards the end of the century, these canopies became gradually enriched with crockets, finials, and other architectural details; and such appear on the monuments in Rochester Cathedral, of Bishop Lawrence de St. Martin, who died in 1274, and Thomas de Inglethorpe, who died in 1291, and on the tomb in Hillmorton Church, Warwickshire, of Edith Astley, who died about the close of this century. Over the effigy of Eleanor, Queen of Edward the First, who died in 1290, is a canopy of this kind, of metal.

There are some flat slabs of this era, which served as coffin lids, diminishing in width from the top downwards, and are sculptured with crosses in relief. The variety of crosses, both plain and ornamented, on coffin stones and slabs, are very numerous, and of every age from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, being perhaps more common than any other species of monumental sculpture. They were not always denotations of the ecclesiastical order, though it is probable they were more appropriated to the clergy than to the civil classes of society. Many of these slabs being uninscribed, we have often no certain criterion to ascertain their probable date; but the most ancient, and those of this century, differ from those of later date by their coffin-shaped form, and have in general the cross more simply designed.

In the reign of Edward the First the sides of tombs of persons of rank began to be ornamented with armorial bearings and small sculptured statues, within pedimental canopied recesses, and from these we may progressively trace the peculiar minutiæ and enrichments of every style of ecclesiastical architecture, from this period to the Reformation.

One of the earliest tombs thus decorated is that in Westminster Abbey, whereon is the cumbent effigy of

Aveline, Countess of Lancaster, who died about the year 1269; the south side of this tomb is divided by small pinnacled buttresses into six arched niches or recesses, surmounted by pyramidical canopies, enriched with crockets and finials. Each recess is trefoliated in the head, and contains a small figure sculptured in high relief.

The tomb of Eleanor, wife of Edward the First, who died A. D. 1290, is decorated in a very similar manner; the sides are divided by small rich buttresses into a series of ornamental arched niches, in the early decorated style, with rich triangular canopies over them; each of these niches or recesses contains a shield bearing alternately the arms of England, Castile and Leon, and of Ponthieu.

To a late period in the ensuing century, the sides of the most remarkable tombs continued to be thus ornamented.

A singular kind of testoon or covering made its appearance over a few rich tombs at the latter end of this, and in the early part of the fourteenth century; this consisted of an arched canopy, the soffit or interior sweep of which was plain, surmounted by pyramidical pediments, beautifully enriched with crockets, finials, tracery, and sculptured designs, in the architectural style of the age. Testoons of this description occur over the tombs in Westminster Abbey of Aveline, Countess of Lancaster; and of Edward Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, who died in 1296; and over the tomb in Canterbury Cathedral of Archbishop Peckham, who died in 1292; they are, however, more characteristic of designs of the fourteenth century.

The body armour and habiliments, in which cumbent effigies, during the middle ages, are sculptured, underwent great alterations at different periods, and form the grand distinguishing characteristics by which we are enabled to determine in the absence of architectural or heraldic deco