Archaeologists uncover a fascinating discovery about Jamestown’s oldest tombstone, revealing that it belonged to an English knight and was imported all the way from Belgium centuries ago.
Tracing the Origins
Historians and archaeologists have long been engaged in the study of Jamestown, America’s first permanent English settlement. In a recent Enigma post, I discussed what prompted a group of researchers to find the origin of an unusual black “marble” headstone from the Jamestown Church.
What they found out was quite surprising. The tombstone, thought to be local, was imported from Belgium during the 17th century. The finding provides new insights into the broad trading networks in the colonial Chesapeake Bay region whereby elite English colonists were having fancy tombstones delivered over as if they were ordering online today.
A Knight of last Rest
Unlike your average slab, the Jamestown tombstone is a monstrous thing. But the shield, unfurled scroll and armoured knight on a pedestal carved in intricate detail have been identified as pointing to an English knight.
The history is that during the lifetime of second Jamestown Church only two knights died both on duty. Sir Thomas West, the first Colonial governor to reside in the colony died on a transatlantic voyage in 1618. The second, Sir George Yeardley, was also a Virginia planter and leader who had served as governor in the colony (where he was knighted by King James I).
Although no DNA evidence was able to absolutely place this tombstone in Yeardley’s plot we are fairly certain that a source as prestigious as the Ventris family would have had enough connections to get such a notable piece of stone to help enshrine one of England’s greatest knights. If confirmed this would make the stone at Jamestown the oldest intact remnant of a tombstone in North America.
Conclusion
The case of the Jamestown knight’s Belgian tombstone is a testament to both the wide-ranging trade networks and cultural networking that existed between colonial America and Europe. This sensational discovery provides a window into the funerary practices and desires of wealthy English colonists, but also underscores the measures to which they would go in order to mimic modern fashion display wealth and status, even overseas. While we learn more about what secrets Jamestown has yet to share, this tombstone remains a stark reminder that the holy trinity of the new world: Virginia tobacco, English funds and slave-fueled labor came courtesy of America’s first colonists.
