In the Middle Ages, corpses were shrouded in fabric and placed directly into the grave. The wealthiest were interred inside the church or in its underground vaults. This image from a fifteenth-century manuscript depicts burial in a consecrated churchyard with the exposed bones of those previously buried. These were symbolic, reminding viewers they would also face death. Cross-shaped grave markers with triangular tops are depicted in the background.
Office of the Dead in Book of Hours, Yates Thompson 3, f. 201v, c. 1440- 1450. Courtesy of the British Library
Image featured in Discovering Quacks, Utopias, and Cemeteries: Modern Lessons from Historical Themes by Cynthia Resor