Wooden Images

Book excerpt: Using 163 photographs of images carved on the underside of medieval choir stalls in the churches and cathedrals of England in the thirteenth through sixteenth centuries, this work provides a spirited examination of the social history of ordinary men and women during the late-medieval period. This examination is particularly useful in that the choir stalls have become less accessible to the public in recent years. Misericords have received some scholarly attention, but this work is the first to interpret the carvings as social commentary. They are not examined as decorative embellishments or pieces of church furniture, but rather "read" as intimate glimpses into the thoughts, actions, and beliefs of a segment of the English medieval population. Whatever amused, angered, frightened, or elated the common person is recorded here in these extraordinary records.