Mortuary roll
Okay kiddo, have you ever heard of a mortuary roll? It's a very old kind of document that was used back in the medieval times in England. It was basically a big piece of paper or parchment with a list of names written on it.
But it wasn't just any list of names. It was a list of the names of people who had died in a particular parish or area. See, back in those days, people didn't have birth certificates or death certificates like we do now. So the only way for people to keep track of who was alive and who wasn't was through something called a parish register.
A parish register was basically a big book where the church kept track of things like baptisms, marriages, and deaths. And every year, they would make a copy of the deaths section and put it on a big piece of paper called a mortuary roll. This was done so that people could remember their loved ones who had passed away and also so that the church could keep a record of who had died.
The mortuary roll was usually decorated with fancy letters and designs, and sometimes even had pictures of the deceased or the patron saint of the parish. People would pay money to have their loved one's name added to the mortuary roll and would often leave money or gifts to the church in exchange for this honor.
So there you have it, a mortuary roll is basically a big list of names of people who have died, that was used in medieval times to keep track of who had passed away in a particular area. Pretty interesting, huh?
But it wasn't just any list of names. It was a list of the names of people who had died in a particular parish or area. See, back in those days, people didn't have birth certificates or death certificates like we do now. So the only way for people to keep track of who was alive and who wasn't was through something called a parish register.
A parish register was basically a big book where the church kept track of things like baptisms, marriages, and deaths. And every year, they would make a copy of the deaths section and put it on a big piece of paper called a mortuary roll. This was done so that people could remember their loved ones who had passed away and also so that the church could keep a record of who had died.
The mortuary roll was usually decorated with fancy letters and designs, and sometimes even had pictures of the deceased or the patron saint of the parish. People would pay money to have their loved one's name added to the mortuary roll and would often leave money or gifts to the church in exchange for this honor.
So there you have it, a mortuary roll is basically a big list of names of people who have died, that was used in medieval times to keep track of who had passed away in a particular area. Pretty interesting, huh?