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The roots of this tradition have their beginnings in the 8th century when some monasteries started to send letters to other communities announcing the deaths of monks or nuns and asking for prayers for their souls. The earliest mortuary roll of which some fragments have survived are from
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This mortuary roll would consist in the beginning of just one parchment which consisted of an elegant obituary of the deceased in an opening section known as encyclical or cover letter, often beautifully illuminated. Every community the messenger passed was expected to pray for the
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Gradually a custom arose in many places of making these entries in verse with complementary amplifications that often occupied many lines. These records, some of which are still extant, memorialize specimens of ornate verse composition. They afford material both for
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although some may have been lost, along with its cover letter. The extraordinary circulation of this role in
Northern France and England, during which various members of monastic communities,
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note known as mortary brief would be transmitted, in the case of the death of a prominent person such as an abbot or abbess or a major patron of the monastery a mortuary roll would be used.
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The practice of making and circulating mortuary rolls seems to have become unpopular by the late 14th century, possibly due to the disruption of monastic and public life at the time of the
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and dates from the late 10th century. The circulation of these rolls seems to have taken place within France and
Catalonia and then later spread to Belgium, Germany, Austria and England.
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is the longest to have survived with a length of 72 feeds and width of 8-10 inches, having circulated among 253 religious institutions.
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and nine from the monastery of St
Lawrence of Liège) or simply the formula "May the soul of and the souls of all the faithful dead
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Once a monk or nun had died, it was common to announce their death to other monastic communities or religious institutions and
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The use of mortuary rolls flourished most in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. That of the Abbess
Matilda of the
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and a comparative judgment of the standard of scholarship prevalent in the relevant centers of learning.
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dating from 1122/23 (see image on the right). The roll is more than nine meters long and contains 208
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Routledge
Revivals: Trade, Travel and Exploration in the Middle Ages (2000): An Encyclopedia
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106:. Amen". Both the mortuary announcement and the memorial entries were in
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and to write a memorial of some sorts on the role. This could include
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the death of a prominent person associated with the institution.
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Saint and the Count: A Case Study for
Reading like a Historian
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as the entire entry of a single community is referred to as
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subscribed, contributed substantially to the short-lived
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included fourteen poems from the cathedral chapter of
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Block
Friedman, John; Mossler Figg, Kristen (2017).
16:Medieval document to commemorate prominent persons
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165:. One of the last mortuary rolls is that of
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31:composed in the scriptorium of a medieval
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242:Block Friedman & Mossler Figg 2017
54:. A special messenger, denominated a
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347:. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
94:or poems (e.g. the mortuary roll of
337:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "
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304:. University of Toronto Press.
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187:Abbey of the Holy Trinity
276:. Taylor & Francis.
175:Hans Holbein the Younger
381:Monuments and memorials
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361:Christianity and death
298:Shopkow, Leah (2021).
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344:Catholic Encyclopedia
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96:Wifred II of Cerdanya
52:ask for their prayers
171:abbot of Westminster
371:Medieval literature
206:collegiate churches
210:cathedral chapters
198:Vitalis of Savigny
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376:Books about death
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163:Black Death
74:, or other
40:commemorate
355:Categories
220:References
167:John Islip
122:in Latin.
68:rotularius
366:Documents
56:breviator
33:Christian
181:Examples
92:epitaphs
80:obituary
64:rollifer
46:Function
27:) was a
23:(Latin:
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317:8 March
289:8 March
264:Sources
156:Limoges
145:History
116:titulus
72:tomiger
60:gerulus
29:rotulus
339:Rotuli
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202:tituli
120:tituli
112:tituli
108:Latin
100:Liège
76:title
319:2023
306:ISBN
291:2023
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208:and
191:Caen
88:soul
341:".
189:in
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38:to
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