13th Century Noblewoman Catherine Foljambe Eyre Born about 1265 Derby, England
- Guinevere Jackson
- 26 November 2022
- 0 Comment
Catherine Foljambe formerly Eyre, which was her maiden or surname, was born Born about 1265 [location unknown] Daughter of William (Eyre) le Eyre and [mother unknown], her father was a member of the aristocracy in England. He was given the nickname William “of Hope, Born about 1225 in Derbyshire, England.
Sister of Robert (Eyre) le Eyre and Peter (Eyre) le Heyr Wife of Thomas Foljambe — married [date unknown] [location unknown] Mother of Thomas Foljambe Died [date unknown] in Tideswell, Derbyshire, England.
Foljambe tomb detail Situated in the Lady Chapel are the Foljambe family tombs. Carved in alabaster and marble, the earliest dates to 1510. The Foljambe family came from Walton nr Chesterfield but also held lands in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. They were likely family to Catherine due to the unusual family name.
As with most tombs of this kind they depict scenes from the occupants lives, such as wife and children.
Based on Catherine’s facial phenotype with her visible lips, nose and thick protruding hair, it is obvious that she was a dark-melanated woman. No matter how much they tried to destroy her monument by smoothing down her face and bleaching it, it was impossible to hide her true features.
“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”
George Orwell
Sources
- 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Smith, J.R. (1874). The Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist, 14, p. 237. Google Books.
- “Pedigree of Foljambe, of Aldwarke Hall.” Some Notes on Medieval English Genealogy. medievalgenealogy.org.uk. Web.
Images effigiesandbrasses.com LilleyTrevor, Jpotto and jmc4 – Church Explorer. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
