In the 15th century (c. 1400–1500), church monuments, primarily effigial tombs and brasses, were the dominant form of commemorative art in parish churches and cathedrals. They reflected social status, piety, and late medieval chivalric culture, with a shift toward realism and personal expression. 

The church monuments of this period were lavish, symbolic, and hierarchical, alabaster knights and brass merchants prayed eternally in stone, blending faith, family pride, and fear of death.