Ledger line (tombstone)
Bishop Hallum
(d.1416), Constance Cathedral, showing gothic memorial text on a ledger lineA ledger line refers to the parallel lines incised or sculpted around the edge of the top surface of a mediaeval
antiquaries.[1]
Stock phrases or standard elements present in epitaphs within ledger lines on mediaeval church monuments in England include:
- Hic jacet.. (here lies...)
- ... cuius animae propitietur deus amen (generally abbreviated to cuius aie ppitiet ds ame with tildes over the omitted letters) ("whose soul may God look upon with favour Amen")
- Memoriae sacrum ... / MS ("Sacred to the memory (of) ...")
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ledger lines (tombstones).
References
- ^ See e.g. Rogers, William Henry Hamilton, The Antient Sepulchral Effigies and Monumental and Memorial Sculpture of Devon, Exeter, 1877, p.76[1]