Editing Sedlec Ossuary (section)

==History==
[[Image:Hřbitovní kaple Všech Svatých v Sedlci u Kutné Hory.jpg|thumb|left|Chapel exterior]]
In 1278, Henry, the [[abbot]] of the [[Cistercian]] [[monastery]] in Sedlec, was sent to the [[Holy Land]] by King [[Otakar II of Bohemia|Ottokar II of Bohemia]]. He returned with a small amount of earth he had removed from [[Golgotha]] and sprinkled it over the abbey [[cemetery]]. The word of this pious act soon spread and the cemetery in Sedlec became a desirable [[burial]] site throughout [[Central Europe]].

In the mid 14th century, during the [[Black Death]] and after the [[Hussite Wars]] in the early 15th century, many thousands were buried in the abbey cemetery, so it had to be greatly enlarged.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Duca|first=Marc Di|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A_rYckpU9GYC&q=sedlec+enlarged&pg=PA132|title=Czech Republic: The Bradt Travel Guide|date=2006|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=978-1-84162-150-0|pages=132|language=en}}</ref><ref name="sedlecinfo">{{cite web | url=https://www.sedlec.info/en/ossuary/history/ | title=Ossuary history}}</ref>

Around 1400, a [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] church was built in the center of the cemetery with a vaulted upper level and a lower chapel to be used as an [[ossuary]] for the mass graves unearthed during construction, or simply slated for demolition to make room for new burials.

After 1511, the task of [[exhumation|exhuming]] skeletons and stacking their bones in the chapel was given to a half-blind [[monk]] of the order according the legend.<ref name="sedlecinfo"/>

Between 1703 and 1710, a new entrance was constructed to support the front wall, which was leaning outward, and the upper chapel was rebuilt. This work, in the Czech [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] style, was designed by [[Jan Santini Aichel]].

In 1870, [[František Rint]], a woodcarver, was employed by the [[House of Schwarzenberg|Schwarzenberg]] family to put the bone heaps into order, yielding a [[macabre]] result. The signature of Rint, also executed in bone, appears on the wall near the entrance to the chapel.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Murray|first=Sarah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DHS2tijZtRoC&q=Franti%C5%A1ek+Rint&pg=PA215|title=Making an Exit: From the Magnificent to the Macabre – How We Dignify the Dead|date=2011|publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-4299-8929-9|language=en}}</ref>