‘Thou bear's thy heavy riches but a journey, and death unloads thee’ (Measure for Measure, 3.1.25-28).

Where a person went after death may be a mystery in early modern England, but we do know what happened to someone’s belongings after they died. Normally, someone would catalogue all of your possessions in an inventory that would go to the court for purposes of setting your will. These inventories tell us a great deal about the kind of possessions people saw as valuable. This one lists items such as a sieve, a pillow, and even a pile of wood.

BRU/15/1/24

Click the arrow to the right of the image to continue.