FS Past & Present Exam 2 Content

Modern funeral practices are most reminiscent of _____.

Judeo-Christian mortuary practices.

The Reformation

Martin Luther’s 95 Theses nailed to Castle Church door 10/31/1517 in Wittenberg, Germany. Split the church between Catholic and Protestant denominations.

Effects of the Reformation

Rejected the doctrine of purgatory, no requiem mass, no prayer for the dead, no lying in state.

Ancient Israelites/Hebrews

Descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac, reign of King David and King Solomon.

The Pentateuch

Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy.

Yahweh

Jewish word for God.

2 Elements of Humans (Hebrew)

Basar, Nephesh.

Basar

flesh, turns to dust postmortem.

Nephesh

breath, soul, or spiritual substance. exists in the blood during life/death, retained thoughts, feelings, etc., could possess people, images, and stone. stayed at the grave for reunion with the body.

Hebrew Death Beliefs

Flesh turned to dust, breath and spirit persisted. supernatural powers added, soul kept a close connection to the body, so if the corpse was hurt, so was the soul. Sheol.

Sheol

Shadowy afterlife, netherworld (Hebrew). ALL souls go here to eventually be rewarded or punished on the day of “Final Judgement.”

Hebrews - Preparation of the Body

embalming is not forbidden, but it is rarely practiced, eyes and mouth are closed, body washed in warm water, anointed with sweet spices, dressed in either best attire or covered in linen and shrouded.

Hebrews - Purification of the Dead

(Hebrew) When the body is washed in warm water.

Chevrah Kadisha

Hebrew holy brotherhood of 7-8 men or women who prepared the members of their respective sex for burial.

Very early Hebrew burial customs

Body bound in the shape of an unborn child (fetal position).

Burials of Jewish Kings

Buried with spices, ornaments, gold, and silver.

Hebrew Burials

Sacred duty or the soul would have no home and wander aimlessly, poor, criminals, and strangers interred in public grounds, only foreign enemies denied as punishment, wealthy interred in natural caves or carved tombs, done before sundown for sanitary necessity.

Bier

A hand stretcher on which the uncoffined body was carried to the grave.

Hebrew Cremation Views

undignified treatment of the body punishable by death, pagan associations, without the body the soul had no home.

Hebrews - Place of Burial

family members were buried together in family burial grounds/tombs on family land to remain together in Sheol. to be buried away from the family was thought to be judgement by Yahweh.

Hebrews - Offerings and Sacrifices

made at the grave, if not the soul could not rest in Sheol. This responsibility fell to firstborn sons, and they got double inheritance as a result.

Hebrew Tombs

Outside city walls, whitened with lime for visibility and ceremonial impurities, no ornamentation or inscriptions.

Hebrew Tombs - Single Chamber

with recessed graves, oldest and most common.

Hebrew Tombs - Sunken Grave

Deeper than a trench grave, covered with stone slab, generally used for the middle class.

Hebrew Tombs - Bench Grave

mound of dirt.

Hebrew Tombs - Trench Grave

shallow trenches covered with dirt, poor people.

Hebrew Mourning Customs - Kriah

Nearest kin “rent their garments.”

Hebrew Mourning Customs

Mourner would remain naked until burial rites completed, bare feet a symbol of death, cutting of the self until it was later outlawed, hair cutting/beard shaving, sit in or pour dust on their heads, fasting from moment of death until evening of day of death, lamentation, hired mourners.

Shiva

Hebrew mourning period of 7 days.

Shloshim

Hebrew mourning period of 30 days.

New concepts introduced by Jesus Christ

Great commandment to love God and one another, sonship of humans with God, brotherhood of all humans.

Christian Death Beliefs

equal value in the eyes of God, wicked punished & righteous sent to heaven, soul spiritual and immortal and not destroyed upon death.

Christians - Preparation of the Body

Eyes closed by family members, hands folded, body washed, wrapped in linen sheet, laid out on couch, feet extended, cross placed on chest, wake/vigil, reposed on bier for in home viewing.

Laying Out of the Body

Early Christian practice of extending the decedent’s feet to hasten the departure of the soul.

Wake (Vigil)

Christian practice from Ancient Hebrews where family/friends sit with the deceased as a precaution against premature burial.

Christian Funerals

Morning mass, holy communion. psalms, prayers, and service held in the afternoon.

Requiem Mass

Catholic mass for the dead, priest burns incense, distributed holy communion.

Early Christian Funeral Procession

Subdued and reverent, no loud crying or mourning, included body, bearers of the body, family, and friends, torches and light to symbolize victory over death and entry into eternal life. cross bearer, 8 monks, 3 acolytes.

Christian Interment

Farewell prayers, anointing with oil, Kiss of Peace.

Kiss of Peace

A final kiss of the deceased to wish them eternal peace, ancient traditional Christian greeting.

7 Corporal Works of Mercy

Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, bury the dead.

Christian Burial Customs

Simply, community-based activity, no coffin/outer burial container, burial in consecrated ground blessed by the Church.

Catacombs

Originated in Ancient Rome as excavated cemeteries cut out of soft rock for the tombs of wealthy Christians, later became a place for religious rites to avoid persecution before Emperor Constantine.

Fossores

Gravediggers, sextons, cemeterians in the catacombs during the period of early Christianity.

Pope John III

Christian burials occurred in cemeteries within the city walls.

Early Christian Cremation Views

considered a pagan practice, dead must be buried to follow the example of Jesus, prohibited by Emperor Constantine.

Burial Clubs

social clubs with large drinking parties intended to assist the working class to pay for funerary expenses and perpetuate the memory of dead friends.

Parabolani

Christian funeral functionaries that visited the sick.

Laborantes

Christian grave diggers.

Lectarii

Christian funeral functionaries that carried coffins.

Fossarii

Christian funeral functionaries that buried the dead.

Sandapilarii

Christian funeral functionaries that performed related services.

Pax Romana

Latin for “Roman Peace,” 200 year period of Roman history, “Golden Age.”

Middle Ages - Local Customs

Sprinkled dirt on the body or coffin, sprig of rosemary put in the pockets to ward off evil spirits and dispel negativity, sin-eaters.

Clergy Burial Customs in the Middle Ages

Buried with feet facing East.

Sin-Eaters

A person who consumes a ritual meal of bread and beer in order to spiritually take on the sins of the decedent.

Middle Ages - Death Customs

Tolling of the bell at the moment of death, embalming or anointing, wrapping body in fine linen, lying in state, black draperies/torches/candles, 3 day vigil, requiem mass, burial, funeral feast.

Catafalque

Raised platform with or without a canopy used for a body to lie in state. Ornate and pretentious.

Middle Ages - Lying in State

Body placed on a catafalque for 3 day vigil.

Middle Ages - Intramural Burial

people wanted to be buried near the church, catalyzed by the Edict of Milan. Eventually only clergy and famous people were granted this rite, the rest were in the church cemetery.

Miasma Theory

The concept that the dead infected the air.

Church Cemeteries

“clean burial,” no embalming or coffins, use of communal plots, became overcrowded.

Who attempted to end intramural burial?

Theodosius, Justinian, Pope Gregory the Great, Charlemagne.

Doctrine of Purgatory

A Catholic belief that those whose souls are not perfectly cleansed undergo a cleansing process before they can enter heaven.

Leagues of Prayer

Formed in the Middle Ages by laypeople to bury the dead and pray for the souls of the faithful departed.

Soul Shot

“Mortuary fee” from the Middle Ages to ensure the entrance of the decedent’s soul into heaven.

Act of Piety

Middle Ages practice of reverence, originated from the Hebrew vigil/wake practice.

“Rousing the Ghost”

10th Century Middle Ages practice that included riotous and drunken behavior, cleared the living of foul play/ensure there was no foul play.

Averil/Arvel/Heir Ale

“Succession Ale,” funeral feast.

Middle Ages - Funeral Feast

welcomed the principal heir to his new estate.

Middle Ages - Tombs & Monuments

stone coffins, lids formed church pavement, some carvings (cross, occupational emblem), later placed inside church.

“The new clothing of incorruption”

white linen burial garments. Later replaced with clothing that reflected that person’s position in life.

Middle Ages - State Funerals

Reserved for royalty/dignitaries, one week or longer, effigy, bone burial.

Effigy

Wax death mask, life sized recreation of the decedent.

Middle Ages - Bone Burial

Bones brought home to be buried, the rest of the body left where it had died.

Holy Relics

Sacred objects associated with holy individuals, often buried with martyrs and saints.

Burial in Woolen Act of 1666

Required woolen cloth to be substituted for the linen shroud and lining of the coffin, implemented for economic reasons, heavy fines imposed for violations.

Middle Ages - Crier

English custom where person walked the street calling the decedent’s name and asking people to pray for their soul.

Middle Ages - Mourning Colors

White, black, and purple.

Middle Ages - Widows

expected to retire to a convent or live out her days in strict seclusion in the dower-house garbed as a nun “dowager.”

Barbe

long, pleated arrangement of fine linen, resembled a beard. lower class wore it below the chin, higher class wore it above the chin.

Middle Ages - Widow Attire

barbe, bonnet, white cuffs, higher ranks more rigidly bound.

Charnal Houses

A house where bones or bodies are deposited.

Momento Mori

Remember that thou wilt die.

Middle Ages - Artistic Death Portayals

death dances, poems/art depicted death as robbing the body of beauty, power, and sensuality.

Middle Ages - Embalming

Considered mutilation, experimentation with evisceration, spices, drugs, wrappings, cerecloth.

Cerecloth

(Middle Ages) cloth coated with wax to be waterproof, very expensive.

Sexton

Church caretaker who was responsible for church property, ringing of bells, and digging graves, cemeterian.

Who was interested in embalming?

Surgeons and anatomists.

Fredrick Ruysch

Dutch, arterial embalming, no records, “Father of Embalming.”

Gabriel Clauderus

German physician, arterial embalming, no evisceration, liked to pickle people, wrote a book.

William Harvey

English physician & anatomist, injected colored solutions, discovered blood circulation in 1618.

Dr. William Hunter

Scottish Anatomist, arterial and cavity embalming, originator of injection method, said that embalming should begin within 8 hours of death.

John Hunter

Scottish anatomist, learned from his brother, described Hunter’s canal (Femoral artery/vein), embalmed wife of a london physician and it was displayed in home.

Jean Gannal

French chemist, wrote “History of Embalming,” developed Gannal’s process used by french police to preserve crime scene evidence, first to make embalming availble to public consumers.

Barber-Surgeon

The sole trade permitted to embalm and perform anatomical dissections in the city of London.

Bloodletting

belief or practice of draining a quantity of blood from the body to cure illness/disease for healing purposes, performed by barber monks.

Strong Craft Guild

Determined who could embalm.

Balsomon (Greek), Balsamum (Latin), Enbaume (French)

Roots of the word ‘embalm’.

(Funeral) Undertaker

Original term applied to those whose occupation included responsibility to organize and facilitate funeral activities.