[MR] History Blog: Bed Burials, and Spread of Christianity

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

A recent History Blog post discussed bed burials, an unusual dark ages
funerary practice. The burials date from the 5th to the 10th centuries,
with most clustering in the 6th and 7th centuries. They are found
across central and northern Europe, including England. A large cluster are
from southern Germany, where acidic and oxygen-poor soil preserved the
burials in remarkable condition.

Bed burials were inhumations, nearly all of women in England, where the
deceased was interred in an open box or bed. Since beds were usually rather
costly furniture, it can safely be assumed that these people were all from
the noble classes.

Recent research suggests that the English burials were related to
high-status continental women who married Anglo-Saxon noble men. They
appear to have brought the burial practice to England, and possibly brought
Christianity to still-pagan, or recently converted, Anglo-Saxon husbands.

The story and some interesting photos are found at
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/64726 .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆