1. Middle Ages and Renaissance

2. Catafalque
“raised platform (with or without a canopy) used for a body to lie in state”

3. Catafalque
President Ronald Reagan lying “in state”

4. Readings Question #1
Describe what was done from the time of death for an Anglo-Saxon to the interment.
soul shot: “mortuary fee paid to insure entrance of the decedent’s soul into heaven”

5. Readings Question #2
Describe the funeral process for rich Englishmen following the Norman Conquest in 1066.

6. Constantine’s Edict of Toleration (313 AD)
burial within city walls
Christians worshipped in churches
Christians buried near their churches
Constantine buried in vestibule: “sepulture in church” became widespread
Churchyard burial for “overflow”

7. 10th – 18th Century intramural burial became a nuisance
churches and churchyards becoming overcrowded
use of incense and myrrh
Black Death (14th Century): killed 2/3 - ¾ of the population of England
uncoffined burial

8. Edward the Confessor 1004-1066 King of England from 1042-1066
Entombed at Westminster Abbey

9. Purgatorial Doctrine
“Catholic belief that those whose souls are not perfectly cleansed undergo a process of cleansing before they enter heaven.”
fraternities, guilds, brotherhoods, leagues of prayer

10. Readings Question #3
What were the duties of the “Steward of the Guild” and the “Death Crier”?

11. The Wake “vigil of the dead”
: riotous behavior, drinking and dancing
14th Century: “rousing the ghost”

12. Readings Question #4
The wake served as an occasion for praying for the dead. What were some of the other functions of the wake? What is the “communion with the dead”?

13. Effigy
“a lifesized, waxen recreation (dummy) of the deceased; often used at state funerals because the body of the deceased should be present for the funeral, but could not be preserved for that length of time”

14. Wax Effigy of Sarah Hare (1744)
Hare Mausoleum in Stow Bardolph England

15. Sepulchral Monuments earliest were stone coffins effigy
tops of tombs rose above the floor
canopy
increase in size
placed at the east end of the church or separate chapels

16. The Plagues 6th Century AD Bubonic Plague: 542
Black Death: 14th Century
Great Plague of London: – 1665
1547: no burial from 6:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m.
1665: reversed
trench burial

17. Coffined Burial kofinos (Greek) arca or loculus (Roman)
695: English stone coffins
6th century: wood coffin
: leather, bull’s hide
generally coffins reserved for the wealthy and important

18. 15th Century public funerals for the rising middle class
increased costs for funerals

19. Readings Question #5
What was the purpose of the burial clubs? What would they provide? What were the duties of the club members?

20. Linen to Wool Shroud cerecloth expanding paper industry
Burial in Woolen Act of 1666: “required that woolen cloth be substituted for linen in the shroud and lining of the coffin; heavy fines were assessed for violation; it was not repealed until 1814”

21. Mourning Clothes “weed” mourning colors:
brown: Persians and Abyssinians
light blue: Armenians and Syrians
white: Chinese
white: early Rome and Middle Ages

22. Widow
barbe

23. “Widow’s Weeds” 1666
Margaret of Spain (Empress of Austria)

24. Local Customs Protestants: sprinkle earth
Jews: bag of earth, mourners fill in grave
Irish: sprinkle “blessed” earth
England: rosemary
Clergy: buried with feet toward the East
Wales: east wind = “Wind of the Dead Men’s Feet”

25. Preoccupation with “Physical” Side of Death
executed prisoners suspended from trees
“songs of death”
statues and woodcuts displayed putrefaction
morality plays
death dance
death was commonplace
less focus on “spiritual” nature of death
tremendous fear of dying

26. Sexton the result of churchyard burials underofficer of the church
cared for church property, rang the bells and dug the graves

27. Readings Question #6
What is independent heart burial? What is visceral embalming?
King Edward I (1272 – 1307): Queen Eleanore’s body deposited in 3 tombs

28. Independent Bone Burial
Bodies of the wealthy cut up, boiled and bones extracted
Bones placed in chest and returned home
Soft tissue buried with ceremony near the place of death
Hundred Years War ( )
Embalming in the Middle Ages will be taught in Embalming I.

29. Readings Question #7
What influence did the Reformation have on Christian funeral beliefs and practices? Describe the Protestant funeral and interment service following the Reformation.
Martin Luther ( )
Counter Reformation of the Catholic Church