Mohun, Lady (biog)


Lady Joan of Burghesh (died 1404) married John de Mohun of Dunster, Somerset, in 1340.  In an indenture of 1395 she made generous gifts to Christ Church, including ‘350 marks sterling’, in return for a perpetual chantry and right to be buried in the crypt beside the Undercroft chapel.  The tomb, which she prepared in advance of her death, includes a canopy which unfortunately breaks into the existing chapel screen.

What to see:

  • a much mutilated, canopied tomb completed soon after the 1395 indenture – the effigy is of alabaster (Image 1)
  • the two tasselled cushions at her head and lion at her feet (Image 2)
  • an effigy with coroneted head, dressed in a sleeveless tunic with jewelled girdle (Image 3)

Sources:  see standard sources;  also Cowper (1897); also web site https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/heritage/archives/picture-this/lady-mohuns-tomb/

DL