The pictured roundels of the Chertsey tiles referenced many aspects of the Crusades. Certainly, the combat tiles of Richard the Lionheart and Saladin allude to the Third Crusade. The Tristan and Isolde tile depicting the medieval romance also comments on the concept of heroism. The Celtic legend involves the tale of enduring a journey to ultimately reach joy, conquest, or healing.


Joy that is detailed by Tristan’s journey to bring Isolde back to his uncle King Mark of Cornwall to marry. Conquest in part by Tristan in defeating the Irish knight of Morholt or later with his affairs in Brittany. Healing echoed by the journey that Isolde attempts to aid Tristan back to full health. Having this tile within the Chertsey Abbey is testimonial to the journey that Crusaders have partaken to restore the Holy Land, to heal the world of its ‘misfortunes’, and ultimately of the conquest as a search for salvation or feudal obligation.