Why Was The Heart Removed From Corpses Ie Thomas Hardy, Queen Eleanor In Years Gone By?

[Suetheramble]

Was it a religious thing?

[jno]

oh yes, it's said Hardy's was to be buried separately but the cat got it first.

This might help

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart-burial

[jeffa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBw0SByRo1g

[jeffa]

Done it again! Wrong thread, sorry :-(

[jno]

perhaps you meant this one, jeffa?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em2xu0j-oss

[Mosaic]

I believe this is an echo of the cult of relics. Royalty of the middle ages were treated as holy and many were sainted after their deaths, so their body parts were holy objects that were subject to veneration.
'Bury my heart in X' became a mantra of the Romantic movement in the late 1700s / early 1800s, and was continued on by charismatic people afterwards, presumably those with enough money and supporters to ensure their wishes were carried out......

[atalanta]

It was a lot easier to pickle a small organ and move it to a special place - a place its owner had loved, for instance. or a special shrine, than to move a whole body. No refrigeration, remember.

[Suetheramble]

I think Thomas Hardy said his heart belonged to Dorset so he wished to be buried there. If I remember rightly his heart is in Dorset the rest of him in poets corner - not as he wished!
Doesn't seem right to me bowels here, heart there - rest of body in the Cathedral!!

[237SJ]

I was in Hampton Court recently and I was told that in the old days, important people were embalmed after death and in order to do that, the organs had to be removed. Therefore, it was easy to bury the heart in a different place to the body. The subject came up when they told us about Jane Seymour who is buried at Windsor Castle but her heart is said to be buried under the altar in the chapel at Hampton Court. It would be easy to find out if the story is true but nobody wants to dig up the altar to find out.