# Why were Cadaver Tombs popular? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 17, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-cadaver-tombs-popular/539786 "2010-05-17T17:42:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-cadaver-tombs-popular/539786/1 "2010-05-17T17:42:57Z")
I just found out, belatedly, that in the late middle ages ‘Cadaver Tombs’ became popular. Why on earth would we want to see a statute of someone as if they were a decomposing corpse? Can someone explain this to me? ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-cadaver-tombs-popular/539786/2 "2010-05-17T18:22:56Z")
My take is that it was to illustrate the concept of [vanitas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanitas). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-cadaver-tombs-popular/539786/3 "2010-05-17T20:32:25Z")
See also: [Timor mortis conturbat me.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timor_mortis_conturbat_me) [Ubi sunt.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubi_sunt) [Momento mori](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori). ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-cadaver-tombs-popular/539786/4 "2010-05-17T21:04:59Z")
In other words, it was fashionable for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-cadaver-tombs-popular/539786/5 "2010-05-17T21:27:29Z")
My recollection from medieval history is that the reason it became popular was because of the Black Death in the late 14th century - when a third of the local population drops dead, it tends to focus the mind a bit on mortality. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-cadaver-tombs-popular/539786/6 "2010-05-17T21:48:32Z")
In English, there’s also > [@](#): > > Remember, traveler, as you pass by > As you are now, so once was I > As I am now, so you shall be > So prepare for death and follow me ---
**Author:** ![Fridgemagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-cadaver-tombs-popular/539786/7 "2010-05-17T22:08:56Z")
IIRC historian Simon Schama, in his “History of Britain” TV series for the BBC, said it was to do with the mortification of the flesh increasing the holiness rating and bringing one closer to Jebus, plus it reminds the beholder that even the great and good wind up looking pretty fuckawful in the end, so you’d better not stray from the path of righteousness. This [sainted soul](http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2874026730097284315rHdAaq) is just up the road from me in Winchester Cathedral, England. As is the tomb of Jane Austen, which is thankfully more tasteful. Disclaimer: IR not an 'istorian. Where’s **Ms Boods**? She knows more about my local history than I do, despite living thousands of miles away. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-cadaver-tombs-popular/539786/8 "2010-05-18T03:09:38Z")
That’s funny, that’s the cadaver tomb I was thinking of myself from a high school trip to Winchester.