Middle Ages and Renaissance

Catafalque(HAFD page 57)

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

Catafalque

• President Ronald Reagan lying “in state”

Anglo-Saxon Funeral

• bier or hearse with book of the Gospels and Cross• pall placed over decedent and “symbols”• Priests bearing lighted candles and chanting• family and friends followed (Plate 11 page 69)• evening: night spent in prayer• morning: Requiem Mass• soul shot: “mortuary fee paid to insure entrance

of the decedent’s soul into heaven”

Funeral for Rich Englishmen (Following Norman Conquest of 1066)

• HAFD page 59• bells tolled at moment of death• funeral would last up to a week• decedent embalmed and anointed• shrouded in linen and laid in state (3 days)• candles (up to 400)• sealed in a leaden coffin and brought to church• Requiem Mass• “Funeral Baked Meats”

Constantine’s Edict of Toleration(313 AD)

HAFD page 60 • 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”

10th – 18th Century

HAFD page 61• 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

Edward the Confessor1004-1066

• King of England from 1042-1066• Entombed at Westminster Abbey

Purgatorial Doctrine

• HAFD page 64• “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

Readings Question #1

• What were the duties of the “Steward of the Guild” and the “Death Crier”?

• Plate 12 HAFD page 70

The Wake

• HAFD page 65• “vigil of the dead”

• 1008- 1012: riotous behavior, drinking and dancing

• 14th Century: “rousing the ghost”

Readings Question #2

• 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”?

Effigy

• HAFD page 66• “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”

Wax Effigy of Sarah Hare(1744)

• Hare Mausoleum in Stow Bardolph England

Sepulchral Monuments

• HAFD page 67• 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

The Plagues

• HAFD page 68• 6th Century AD• Bubonic Plague: 542• Black Death: 14th Century• Great Plague of London: 1664 – 1665• 1547: no burial from 6:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m.• 1665: reversed• trench burial

Coffined Burial

• HAFD page 71• kofinos (Greek)• arca or loculus (Roman)• 695: English stone coffins• 6th century: wood coffin• 1066-1166: leather, bull’s hide• generally coffins reserved for the wealthy and

important

15th Century

• HAFD page 74

• public funerals for the rising middle class

• increased costs for funerals

Readings Question #3

• What was the purpose of the burial clubs? What would they provide? What were the duties of the club members?

Linen to Wool Shroud

• HAFD page 75• 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”

Mourning Clothes

• HAFD page 76• “weed”• mourning colors:

brown: Persians and Abyssinianslight blue: Armenians and Syrianswhite: Chinesewhite: early Rome and Middle Ages

Widow

• barbe

“Widow’s Weeds” 1666

• Margaret of Spain (Empress of Austria)

Local Customs

• HAFD page 78• 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”

Preoccupation with “Physical” Side of Death

• HAFD page 81• executed prisoners suspended from trees• “songs of death”• statues and woodcuts displayed putrefaction• morality plays (Plate 15 page 89)• death dance• death was commonplace• less focus on “spiritual” nature of death• tremendous fear of dying

Sexton

• HAFD page 82• the result of churchyard burials

• underofficer of the church

• cared for church property, rang the bells and dug the graves

Readings Question #4

• HAFD page 83• What is independent heart burial? What is

visceral embalming?

• King Edward I (1272 – 1307): Queen Eleanore’s body deposited in 3 tombs

Independent Bone Burial

• HAFD page 84• 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 (1337-1453)• Embalming in the Middle Ages will be taught in

Embalming I.

Readings Question #5

• HAFD page 91• What influence did the Reformation have on

Christian funeral beliefs and practices? Describe the Protestant funeral and interment service following the Reformation.

• Martin Luther (1483-1546)• Counter Reformation of the Catholic Church