Private Vault

A burial vault is a structural stone or brick-lined underground tomb or 'burial chamber' for the interment of a single body or multiple bodies underground. The main difference between entombment in a subterranean vault and a traditional in-ground burial is, that the coffin is not placed directly in the earth, but is placed in a burial chamber, specially built for this purpose. A burial vault refers to an underground chamber, in contrast to an above-ground, freestanding mausoleum. These underground burial tombs were originally and are still often vaulted and usually have stone slab entrances. They are often privately owned and used for specific family or other groups, but usually stand beneath a public religious building, such as a church, or in a churchyard or cemetery. A crypt may be used as a burial vault and a freestanding mausoleum may contain a burial vault beneath the ground. History and description After the Christianization of Europe, in most areas ruled by the Holy Roman Empire, vault entombments initially mostly took place inside church crypts under the influence of Catholic Church. Since the Middle Ages, this form of burial was essentially reserved for the privileged members of society, including monarchs, high-ranking clergy, nobility and other notable individuals. Ornately carved and elaborately designed sarcophagi were often used for the dead from higher social classes which took place in church and cathedral crypts beneath the floor. In this sense, a crypt entombment inside a vault enabled the “intact storage” of the body of the deceased until the Last Judgment. The last resting places of European monarchs were mostly designed as vaults. Commoners were usually buried in the ground, sometimes in mass graves. Due to pestilences such as plague outbreaks along with population growth and increasing mortality rates, some precautionary measures had to be taken against intramural burials and entombments in the vaults beneath places of public worship which was deemed to be unsanitary. At the end of the 18th century, a gradual change took place in the continental Europe as a result of the Enlightenment and modern ideas about hygiene, stemming from the miasma theory. In-ground burials outside the walls or boundaries of cities started to replace crypt entombments in the vaults. In 1784, under Emperor Joseph II, a ban on burials inside churches was introduced, with the exception of bishops who were permitted to be entombed in the church crypts.