This work examines particular attributes of the purgatorial phenomena from pre-Christian history of the Indo-European world to the Early Modern Period of England. An attempt has been made to identify and concentrate attention upon examples which provide the most significant and penetrating look into this evolution. For example, a portion of this paper attempts to determine just how widespread purgatorial customs were throughout England and the various types of community that supported these beliefs pre and post Reformation. By comparing life before and after the reigns of Henry and Edward a conclusion is reached that reveals the Protestant Reformation in England stripped the laity of a fundamental instrument they needed to support their religiosity and custom. This becomes evident in further years as some of those same customs and rituals that had been considered anathema by Protestants, slowly crept back into the liturgy of the new religion. Strong evidence of this is provided, with a strong emphasis placed upon late seventeenth and early eighteenth century death eulogies, with a section of this paper being devoted to the phenomena of the Sin-Eater.

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Collegiate churches were founded for two essential aims: the augmentation of divine worship, and the salvation of souls. This thesis brings to light just how important material and aesthetic enrichments were in regards to these functions. The vast majority of collegiate churches in Scotland were substantially augmented around the time of their foundation. Patrons undertook significant building programmes and provided a variety of furnishings and ornaments to facilitate and enrich the services their body of clergy performed. Precise statutes were laid down in order to ensure that clergy were skilled singers and organists. Many founders also made provision for their burial within their collegiate churches so that they could garner the maximum spiritual benefit from the organisations that they had founded. To the author's knowledge, this is the first in-depth account of the art and architecture of Scottish medieval colleges. This thesis looks closely at the architecture, furnishings, rituals, music, imagery, and commemorative functions of the forty-nine collegiate churches founded in Scotland. A close concentration on this institutional form has meant that buildings, artworks, and practices which have hitherto not received significant scholarly attention have been carefully scrutinised. Furthermore, by looking at so many aspects of collegiate churches, the present study enriches an understanding of these institutions by providing a more holistic picture of their functions and significance. Ultimately this thesis examines why physical and aesthetic enrichment went hand in hand with the founding of a college, and what role this material culture had in regards to how collegiate churches functioned.

It is not the purpose of this dissertation to present a history of Purgatory; rather, it is to show through the history the influence of purgatorial doctrine on the English lay community and the need of that community for this doctrine. Having established the importance this doctrine held for so many in England, with an examination of the chantry institution in England, this study then examines how this doctrine was stripped away from the laity by political and religious reformers during the sixteenth century. Purgatorial belief was adversely affected when chantries were closed in execution of the chantry acts under Henry VIII and Edward VI. These chantries were vital to the laity and not moribund institutions. Purgatorial doctrine greatly influenced the development and concept of the medieval English community. Always seen to be tightly knit, this community had a transgenerational quality, a spiritual and congregational quality, and a quality extending beyond the grave. The Catholic Church was central to this definition of community, distributing apotropaic powers, enhancing the congregational aspects, and brokering the relationship with the dead. The elements of the Roman liturgy were essential to community cohesiveness, as were the material and ritual supports for this liturgy. The need of the community for purgatorial doctrine shaped and popularized this doctrine Next, an analysis of surviving and resurging elements of expiatory rites is explored; ritual, especially that surrounding death, as well as the relationship with the dead, were sorely missed when stripped away through political actions linked to Protestant belief. This deficiency of ritual aspects within the emerging Protestant religion became evident in further years as some of the same customs and rituals that were considered anathema by Protestants slowly crept back into the Protestant liturgy in an attempt to restore the relationship between the living and the dead. Strong evidence of this is provided through sixteenth to nineteenth century death eulogies, surviving rites of expiation, as well as lay essays and popular literature discussing the phenomenon called the Sin-Eater.