Food and drink for the soul: Chantries and their founders in late medieval Aberdeen

This thesis is an investigation of chantries and their founders in fifteenth and sixteenth century Aberdeen. For the purpose of this thesis, one hundred and twenty-two chantry certificates and anniversary foundations as well as gifts to the altars were examined, encompassing a total of thirty altars at the parish church of Saint Nicholas in Aberdeen, Scotland. When this information was examined, it was discovered that the average chantry founder of Saint Nicholas was a male burgess of Aberdeen who had endowed the chantry by himself while still living. He would have given rents totalling just over £5 to a named altar, with the rents coming from a collection of plots of land in the surrounding areas. As well, the majority of the chantry and obit foundations occurred between 1430 and 1549 with peak points from 1500 to 1509, and 1520 to 1529. As conduits through which the living and the dead could interact, chantries performed a number of functions. They gave mourners a purpose after a friend or loved one had died, served as a memorial for those who feared being forgotten after death, and helped the poor by giving them a place where they were needed. As well, chantries gave the laity the ability to further participate in the everyday functions of the church. Serving to connect the different aspects of community in Aberdeen, living and dead, and lay and religious, chantries were an important part of late medieval society.