Henry VIII Tomb

[Rowan MacD]

   The search for Richard III got me poking around to see if any other royal tombs might have been peeked into over the years (besides Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey's)...
 I Googled Henry VIII, and it seems there are a couple of serious Tudor aficionados out there, and at least one had a link to a sketch that was done when the then Prince Regent George (later George III) had the vault in the quire in St George's Chapel, of Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and Charles I, opened in 1813, to place some relics belonging to Charles I in his grave with him.
  There were no photographers back then, but a finely rendered pencil sketch of nearly photographic quality was made of the coffins and contents of the vault below the stone that bears their names.
  I cannot post the picture here, due to copyright- But you can go to the link yourself.  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20631910@N03/2656430544

Behold the Coffins of two Kings and a Queen.  For some reason Charles (who was executed) was placed between Queen Jane's white coffin and Henry's dark one.
 I would love to know what the band is that lies across Henry's at about chest height....Perhaps a banner of some kind identifying him?  
 Charles's coffin lid is broken on the top over where his head should be.

[DonaCatalina]

Henry VIII's coffin had to be repaired while in route from London to Windsor. Apparently the king was slightly too large for his coffin and it succeumbed to the pressures caused by advanced decomposition. What you see are probably the results of hasty repairs and bindings.


"pavement of the church was wetted with Henry's blood. In the morning came plumbers to solder the coffin under whose feet was suddenly seen a dog creeping and licking up the king's blood. If you ask me how I know this, I answer William Grenville, who could scarcely drive away the dog told me and so did the plumber also."

[Welsh Wench]

I had heard that prophecy regarding Henry VIII's body before too.

Here is a link I found. Very interesting...and icky.

http://queryblog.tudorhistory.org/2008/07/question-from-kat-henry-viiis-body-and.html

[Rowan MacD]

   In many cases, the average Joe was at least treated to a quick burial, though it was usually in a shroud directly in the ground.

   The uproar that an unexpected death of a sovereign, especially one in which the succession was not predetermined, would inevitably cause a considerable delay in disposition of the body.
   The necessity for the heir to arrange the funeral practically begged the use of lead coffins to seal the corpse from view, and make it's presence tolerable at the funeral service, though sometimes even those would leak if enough pressure built up inside.
  An effigy on the coffin was sufficient for 'viewing' for the public. And they were used for Henry VII and Elizabeth I.
  I'm not really sure when that became a custom, but I'd love to find out. 

   Embalming, as we know it today, dates only from the Civil War, which created a great need to chemically preserve bodies for transport home from the war.
   Prior to that, bodies were literally 'kept on ice'.  They were laid out in the parlor on a bed of ice, or in the case of winter death-In a room with the windows left open.

[LadyFae]

Uff, this is all so icky.  I LOVE IT!!!!!   

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

Leave it to Henry to go out with a bang! Well, more of a pop, actually. 

[Rowan MacD]

Leave it to Henry to go out with a bang! Well, more of a pop, actually. 

I read the account of the aftermath of William I's death, (I'll try to find it online) and the poor guy was well on his way to decomposing before he died.  He had a very slow and painful death from peritonitis from a suspected ruptured intestine, caused when his saddle horn slammed into his gut.  Even modern medicine would have a had a hard time saving him.
   The monks who cared for him complained mightily about the sickroom stench, and stated he was quite bloated when he passed on.   From all accounts his funeral Mass was a hurried affair, since his coffin was not up to containing his remains.
   If anything, the 'Ick' factor was worse than Henry's.   
   

[Rowan MacD]

Henry VIII's coffin had to be repaired while in route from London to Windsor. Apparently the king was slightly too large for his coffin and it succumbed to the pressures caused by advanced decomposition. What you see are probably the results of hasty repairs and bindings.

I wonder if what we see in the sketch of Henry's burial is the wooden outer coffin, or just the leaden inner one?
  Jane's almost looks like zinc or just lead. It may even have been painted.  
  In pictures I have seen of exhumed 16th century burials, the lead coffins and rotted pieces of the outer, decorative coffin are usually all that is left after 500 years.

[DonaCatalina]

Many times before Henry VII, nobility and royalty were treated to Mos Teutonicus in the event of extended travel time.
Too bad the Popes made the practice die out or Henry VIII's funeral might have been spared some ick.

[Rowan MacD]

    I knew about the practice of removing the heart and drying it for transport, but I didn't think the Christians were very keen on the skeletoniztion of the body away from home.  Necessity can sometimes upstage even religious strictures. 

   In the early middle ages it was the custom in noble households to allow the body to decay naturally before burial in the family crypts located in the basement of the family castles, on slabs designed for this process. The body was sewn in to a shroud, then left on a slab until nature took its course.   I imagine rats and insects hastened the process.
   The body was checked on periodically, and left longer if it needed more time to dry out.  After that, the bones were gathered, cleaned and placed in niches. The practice was abandoned once burial in and around public buildings (like churches) became the norm. 
    Earth burial continued to be considered lower class for many centuries, and above ground burial is still considered preferable in today's society.