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Cursed Be He That Moves My Bones

© Sharon K. West

NOTE: This article is a follow-up to "One Fear Laid To Rest."

At a time when it was customary to write one's own epitaph, what do you suppose someone like Shakespeare would have placed on his own tombstone after having written such profound words during his lifetime? If indeed he was the one that penned his epitaph, how odd that he wrote a curse.

Shakespeare's tomb bears this inscription:

Good frend for Iesus sake forbeare
To digg the dust encloased heare.
Blese be y man y spares thes stones
And curst be he y moves my bones.

Converted to modern English, it reads:

Good friend for Jesus sake forbear
to dig the dust enclosed here!
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
and curst be he that moves my bones.

Why would Shakespeare be concerned about someone moving his bones?

Exuming old bones in cemeteries to make room for more bodies was common in that day and continues to be in some parts of the world. And just where would the bones of Shakespeare have ended up? When old skeletons were dug up, they were placed in what is called a charnel house.

By definition, a charnel house is "a building, room or vault in which the bones or bodies of the dead are deposited or piled up." Webster's dictionary indicates that the word comes from the French for "carnal." Sometimes a charnel would be a room located under a church. It could also be a pit.

The use of a charnel house was not a new practice even in Shakespeare's day. In the 2nd century AD, Roman law forbade the burying of dead within city walls; therefore, cemeteries developed alongside approach roads. Consecrated ground seemed to be limited all through history and necessitated the reusing of these spaces. The use of a charnel was the logical solution to the dilemma of where to put all those bones, and archaeologists continue to discover their locations.

Even today, in Poland, some cemetery plots are rented for only 40 years and then the bones are placed into storage. They also bury one coffin on top of another until a grave is full to maximize the space.

Bones headed for a charnel house were handled in different ways. Sometimes they were cleaned and sorted by type of bone, bundled and stacked. One person also reports that the bones might have been used for weapons and medicine, although I have not been able to verify that.

The copyright of the article Cursed Be He That Moves My Bones in Historical Mysteries is owned by Sharon K. West. Permission to republish Cursed Be He That Moves My Bones in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.