ABSTRACT
In 1559, André Le Gallois, choral chaplain at Notre Dame church in Nantes, founded an anniversary mass in perpetuity. It was intended ‘to pray God for the soul of the founder’ so that he might rest in peace. 1 The enormous number of similar spiritual bequests in the wills and chantry foundations of late-medieval and Reformation Europe shows a widespread and long-lasting concern for the repose of departed souls. 2 Sixteenth-century Catholics hoped that by the good works of alms-giving, fasting, prayer and masses, such as Le Gallois’ foundation above, they might earn an eternity of restful felicity with God, even if they had to endure some time in purgatory beforehand to work off the blemish of sin.
