In France and England no less than in Ireland the destruction of vestments is incalculable and very few survive today. In spite of the great care with which they were kept, the action of time on such perishable material was inevitable, and worn out sets were either burnt or used for the interment of ecclesiastics. The Four Masters record that in 1545:
"...a part of Christ's Church in Dublin was broken down ... and a stone coffin was discovered in which was the body of a bishop, in his episcopal dress.."
Vestments were developed independently out of the everyday dress worn by citizens of the Graeco-Roman world under the Empire and by the 4th century distinctive garments were used for liturgical functions.

The material of the alb was usually white linen but we often find albs of velvet, sild, and even cloth of gold mentioned. In mediaeval times the chasuble was made of such a variety of sumptuous materials - brocades, velvets, cloth of gold - and was often embroidered in such splendour with metallic threads and overlaid with such gorgeous needlework and jewel work in countless designs that it would be impossible to give an adequate description of the resulting product.

The commonest materials used seem to have been velvet, sild, damask, and cloth of gold. Strips of embroidery and orphrey work were often sen on to a plain ground. As in the case of modern vestments the early chasubles had an embroidered cross back and front. The interspaces were filled with floral design which was not done in a haphazard manner but sewn on to certain parts of the vestment. Embroidered edging was very commonly added. With regard to shape many were made circular or elliptical as well as in the form known as vescia piscis.

Religious

Croziers