Royal Tombs of Medieval England

by Mark Duffy

This comprehensive and detailed survey of English royal tombs from 1066-1509, including junior royals as well as kings and queens, is combined with accounts of burial practice, tomb design, craftsmen, and construction.

336 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

Reviews

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well illustrated and informative book for those interested in royal tombs the majority of which at Westminster.

I originally got this to explore Eleanor of Castile’s tomb which it does but the drawings of both the tombs and the royal bodies and how they were laid inside is really fascinating.

There are colour illustrations, mainly photographs and I would have been happy with even more.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite detailed descriptions of royal tombs, from Edward the Confessor to Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. The book contains several interesting drawings to illustrate the contemporary/close to contemporary appearance of tombs that are now lost or partly destroyed.

There is significant repetition of information, sometimes of whole sentences verbatim in different parts of the book. Additionally, it contains extensive passages in Latin and French with no translation, thus rendering it difficult for the reader to follow in some cases.

On the whole, I would definitely recommend this book to people interested in the subject of medieval royal tombs.