The monumental brasses which lie on the floors of so many of our ancient parish churches do not profess to furnish us, except in rare and late examples, with portraits of the persons to whose memory they were made and laid down. They are, however, of considerable value as guides to the costumes worn by knights, civilians, judges, ladies, and ecclesiastics, from the latter part of the thirteenth century up to the end of the seventeenth century . . . We are concerned solely with the brasses which have been laid down to commemorate ecclesiastics . . . -From the Introduction