Misericord
A misericord is a small wooden structure on the underside of a hinged folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a ledge to support a person leaning against it in a partially standing position during long periods of prayer. They are usually wooden, often intricately and artistically carved, and have been created and used since at least the 11th century AD. Misericords are most often found under the stalls in the part of a church named the 'choir', close to the altar, as well as in the churches of or attached to monastic communities.
Origins
Prayers in the early medieval church at the daily divine offices were said standing with uplifted hands. The old or infirm could use crutches or, as time went on, a misericordia. For these times of required standing, seating was constructed so that the seats could be turned up. However, the undersides sometimes had a small shelf, a misericord, allowing the user to lean against it, slightly reducing their discomfort. Like most other medieval woodwork in churches, they were usually skillfully carved and often show detailed scenes, even though they were hidden underneath the seats, especially in the choir stalls of the choir around the altar. Despite being located in churches, it was not considered appropriate for these sculptures to portray religious motifs, as people rested their buttocks against them. As such, misericords portrayed a wide range of subjects from secular life and folklore unrelated to the Bible.History
The earliest mention of the misericord dates to the 11th century. Surviving misericords in English churches date from the start of the 13th century right up until the 21st century, although after the beginning of the 17th century they are viewed as modern copies with little or no historical importance. Remnant's 1969 catalogue dismisses everything after that date as "modern", rarely even affording it a description, but there are many wonderful carvings from the Victorian era, and even the modern day. The earliest set of misericords can be found in the choir stalls of Exeter Cathedral and date from the middle of the 13th century. Slightly earlier individual examples are present at Christchurch Priory and St Mary the Virgin, Hemingbrough in North Yorkshire. The vast majority of English misericords date from the 14th and 15th centuries and are most often depictions of secular or pagan images and scenes, entirely at odds with the Christian iconography and aesthetic that surround them.Many stalls with misericords were once part of monastic or collegiate churches, but during the English Reformation and the dissolution of the Catholic monasteries, many were either destroyed or broken up to be dispersed amongst now protestant parish churches. Those that survived were further depleted by 17th-century iconoclasts and Victorian reformers. One set at Chester was destroyed by Dean Howson because he deemed it improper, although 43 of the original medieval scenes remain. The woodcarvers came from Lincoln in the late 14th century and moved on to Westminster Hall when they had finished the choir, three years later. It is said that it was the apprentices who were allowed to carve the seats, while the masters did the more impressive works.