Notes of the Search for the Tomb of the Royal Foundress of the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity at Edinburgh (in 1848)
Other Society business, Mary of Guelders, Grave, Human remains, Original documents
Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Fifteenth century, Stuart, 1462, 1463, 1848
Abstract
The author provides an account of the Society’s involvement in the search for the grave of Mary of Guelders, the founder of the Collegiate church of the Holy Trinity in Edinburgh and the wife of James II. He also describes some of the church’s history and architectural features. He acknowledges that two female skeletons were found beneath the church but dismisses claims that the second skeleton may have been Mary of Guelders based on the location of the first burial when compared to other royal founders of churches, the precedent for giving royal figures oak coffins and the remains of high-quality fabric found in the coffin.
On the day, David Laing objected to Professor Wilson’s conclusions and suggested that his paper arguing that the second skeleton was that of Mary of Guelders should be printed alongside this article (See 566-577).
