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A maiden's garland, dated 1953, displayed in the church of St Mary the Virgin, Abbots Ann, Hampshire.

A maiden's garland, also known as a virgin's crown, crants or crantsey, is a crown-shaped garland used as a funeral memento for, usually female, virgins.[1][2] They are generally made of paper flowers, rosettes and ribbons fixed to a wooden frame.[3][4] Many are also adorned with white paper gloves, and may be inscribed with verses of poetry and the name of the deceased.[3][5][6] The garlands are carried before, or on, the coffin during the funeral procession and afterwards displayed in the church.[6][7] W.R. Bullen, writing in The Tablet in 1926, reports that the "practice of carrying garlands at a maiden's funeral was common in England, Wales and Scotland before the Reformation and after it for two hundred years or more, but the custom has now almost entirely fallen into disuse."[8]

The oldest surviving garland was made in 1680 and is displayed at St Mary's Church, Beverley, Yorkshire.[1] The largest collection of garlands (43, ranging between 1740-1973) is held at the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Abbots Ann, Hampshire, and the most recent example was made in 1995 at Holy Trinity Church, Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire.[4][9] Examples have also been found in France: Edward J.G. Forse, writing in 1938, observed: "The paper rosettes and wreaths at Abbots Ann I found paralleled in August 1919 at Montsoreau, near Saumur, and in July 1932 at La Malène on the river Tarn."[10]

Etymology

The name crants, used most commonly in Derbyshire and the north, is believed to be derived from late Old Norse krans (Error: {{IPA}}: unrecognized language tag: /krans/) or Old High German kranz (/kʁants/), both meaning "wreath".[1][2] Samuel Johnson, in Notes to Shakespeare, Volume 3: The Tragedies (1765), wrote: "I have been informed by an anonymous correspondent, that crants is the German word for garlands, and I suppose it was retained by us from the Saxons. To carry garlands before the bier of a maiden, and to hang them over her grave, is still the practice in rural parishes."[11] The name "virgin's crown" seems peculiar to Abbots Ann, but this may be because it is the only parish where male virgin's have been known to be commemorated with the wreaths, making the more common "maiden's garland" redundant.[12]

History

The origins of the custom are uncertain. Bullen compared the use of maiden's garlands with the Early Christian custom "of placing wreaths or garlands of fresh flowers at the head of deceased virgins... mentioned in the writings of St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and other Fathers of that period."[8] Rosie Morris, one of the leading authorities on maidens' garlands, writes that their use possibly originated "in the customs of antiquity of Egypt, Etruria and Rome", and may have been imported by the Romans.[13]

Early Christian attitudes

The practice of placing garlands on the heads of the dead was well-established in Roman culture but was initially viewed with "strong hostility" by early Christians, who associated the custom with "idolatry and licentiousness", and regarded a garland on a woman as "a sign of wantonness."[14] In the 2nd century, Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria both condemned the wearing of garlands, but by the mid-3rd century the church's position had begun to shift, with Cyprian writing of Christians "crowning the martyred dead" and of heavenly rewards of white crowns pro operibus ("for works") and purple crowns pro passione ("for passion").[14] By the 4th century, crowns had become associated in the church with chastity and purity, and Methodius of Olympus wrote in his Banquet of the Ten Virgins:

For she who having first overcome the devil, and destroyed his seven heads, becomes possessed of the seven crowns of virtue, having gone through the seven great struggles of chastity. For incontinence and luxury is a head of the dragon; and whoever bruises this is wreathed with the crown of temperance.[15]

In 403 Prudentius wrote the lyric poem "The Passion of Agnes" in his Liber Peristephanon ("Crowns of Martyrdom"). In this he says of Agnes of Rome:

A double crown of martyrdom was vouchsafed to her: the keeping of her virginity untouched by any sin, and then the glory of her dying by her own will.[16]

In 404 Jerome wrote of three floral crowns: of roses and violets for martyrdom, and of lilies for purity.[14] Writing in 1930, John Tatlock noted:

The decorating of martyrs tombs with garlands, as their use in worship, became common after the victory of the church in the time of Constantine, when the cult of the martyrs rapidly developed and gave them some of the position in popular Christianity which in popular paganism had been occupied by the heroes.... In spite of the hostility of the strict, the early Christians felt the charm of flowers and garlands, had given them up with regret, and presently, by the mid-third century, took pleasure in fancying them as awaiting the worthy in heaven... They were endowed with spiritual meaning in accordance with the contemporary tendency toward symbolism [and] the pleasant practice thus gained consecration [and] remained common in the early middle ages.[14]

By the Late Middle Ages maidens' garlands had become "an established aspect of the Anglican funeral rite.".[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1080/0015587032000145388, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1080/0015587032000145388 instead.
  2. ^ a b c Morris, Rosie (2011). "Maidens' Garlands: A Funeral Custom of Post-Reformation England". In King, Chris; Sayer, Duncan (eds.). The Archaeology of Post-Medieval Religion. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. pp. 271–282. ISBN 978-1-8438369-3-3.
  3. ^ a b Lockie, Rosemary (15 November 2009). "Maidens' Funeral Garlands, Holy Trinity Church, Ashford". GENUKI. Archived from the original on 6 May 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  4. ^ a b Bunting, Julie (15 November 2009). "Take a Look At: Maidens' Garlands and Memorials". GENUKI. First published 25 June 2001, The Peak Advertiser (Bakewell) p.13. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  5. ^ Andrews, Ann (20 July 2013). "Funeral Garlands in Matlock Church". The Andrews Pages. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Church history and the architecture of Holy Trinity Church, Ashford in the Water". Holy Trinity Parish Church. 13 August 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  7. ^ "The Crantses". St. Giles, Matlock. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  8. ^ a b Bullen, W.R. (10 April 1926). "Virgins' Garlands". The Tablet. London. p. 7. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  9. ^ King, Pamela J. "The Virgins' Crown". St. Mary's Church, Abbotts Ann. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  10. ^ Forse, Edward J.G. (1938). "III: "THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD" Rarities not absolutely unique!". Ceremonial Curiosities and Queer Sights in Foreign Churches. London: The Faith Press. Retrieved 28 February 2014. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |chapter= at position 33 (help)
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1765). Notes to Shakespeare, Volume 3: The Tragedies.
  12. ^ Parish, R.B. (28 February 2013). "Virgin crowns: A search for Nottinghamshire examples". Our Nottinghamshire. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  13. ^ Morris, Rosie (2007). "What are Maidens' Garlands". Maidens' Garlands. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  14. ^ a b c d Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.2307/457733, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.2307/457733 instead.
  15. ^ Methodius (c.311). Banquet of the Ten Virgins. Discourse 8, Chapter 13. Retrieved 2 March 2014. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
  16. ^ Prudentius (c.403). "Passio Agnes". Liber Peristephanon. Retrieved 2 March 2014. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
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