- Heart-burial
Heart-burial is a type of
burial in which theheart isinterred apart from thebody . This is a very ancient practice, and the special reverence shown towards the heart is doubtless due to its early association with the soul, affections, courage and conscience of man.In medieval Europe heart-burial was fairly common. Some of the more notable cases of this include:
*Richard I, whose heart, preserved in a casket, was placed in the
Cathedral inRouen ,Normandy ;
*Henry I, whose body was buried inReading Abbey , but his heart, along with his bowels, brains, eyes & tongue, is interred at theCathedral inRouen ,Normandy ;
*Eleanor of Castile , Queen of Edward I, whose body is interred inWestminster Abbey , but heart and other viscera are in theLincoln Cathedral ;
*Robert the Bruce , whose body lies inDunfermline Abbey , but heart is atMelrose Abbey inRoxburghshire . He wished his heart to rest atJerusalem in the church of theHoly Sepulchre , and on his deathbed entrusted the fulfilment of his wish toSir James Douglas . The latter broke his journey to join theSpaniards in their war with the Moorish kings ofGranada , and was killed in battle. He had kept the heart of Bruce enclosed in a silver casket hanging round his neck. The heart was subsequently recovered and buried in the Abbey.A more modern example is that of
Thomas Hardy whose ashes were interred inPoets' Corner ofWestminster Abbey whilst his heart was buried in his belovedWessex alongside his first wife. A recent biography of Hardy details the arguments over the decision, and addresses the long-standing rumour that the heart was stolen by a pet cat so that a pig's heart had to be used as a replacement. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2101-2378266.html]Another is
John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute , scholar, art patron and Catholic convert, whose heart was buried in 1900 on theMount of Olives in Jerusalem.References
*1911
External links
* [http://www.heartburial.com heartburial.com]
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