History of Funerals - Middle Age & Renaissance

What do the terms BC (CE) and AD stand for?

BC - before Christ (CE - Common Era), AD - Anno Domini (year of our lord)

What is a intramural burial?

Burial inside church or church crypt - in the walls, under altars, floors, etc.

Explain the "Edict of Toleration" and how it affected burials

Constantine passed - worship & burial became public. People were more concerned with sentiment than sanitation. Burials were within city walls.

Explain the Catholic Purgatorial Doctrine

Catholic - souls were not perfectly cleansed before heaven, it was a temporary punishment - led to "Leagues of Prayer" & "soul shots"

Describe a Renaissance wake.

To avoid premature burial, act of piety/reverence, prayers for the dead, people to see that mo harm or foul play had been done to the body.

Why was cremation outlawed?

It was still considered Pagan.

What impact did the Bubonic Plague "Black Death" have on funerals?

There were no funerals. Cemeteries became overloaded so people were buried in trench graves. 15% of the London's population died.

What is the "Burial in Woolen Act" of 1666?

No more linen shrouds or flax were to be used for burials - must use sheep's wool. Linen was too expensive and needed for other things.

What were the mourning colors during the Renaissance?

White, black and purple

What was the reason for Burial Clubs?

People paid a quarterage or fee for a decent burial

Why were people buried with their feet toward the East?

So they can stand up and see Christ on the Resurrection.

What is a "sin-eater"?

Someone who literally eats food and stands over the body to take away their sins.

What is a sexton and describe his duties?

Caretaker of church property - rings church bells, digs graves, responsible for cemetery.

Why would you have an "independent heart or bone burial"?

Bones or "holy relics" like the heart, can return to homeland for burial. Mostly done for martyrs, saints, and soldiers. Hearts were regarded as holy relics, as such, they were cut out, preserved, and buried separate from the body.

How often was embalming done during the Renaissance?

Rarely, less than 1% of people. It was too expensive and people considered it mutilation. If embalming was done, it usually involved "evisceration" or just removal of the internal organs.

What were the roles of early surgeons and anatomists?

There was a shortage of cadavers - body snatching, experimented with embalming and evisceration by drying and filling bodies and cavities with cloth.

Bier

forerunner of today's hearse; a hand stretcher on which the uncoffined body was carried to the grave.

Burial Club

organizations intended to assist people of the working classes, particularly guild members, to defray the heavy expenses of the funeral and to perpetuate the memory of dead friends; costs were shared by others via weekly collections; were the forerunners of industrial insurance.

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

Catafalque

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

Crier

English custom of Middle Ages which lasted until 19th 43 century; person who walked the street calling out the name of the deceased and asking people to pray for the soul of the departed

Chadwick's Report

a report published in 1843 on unsanitary conditions in London created by intramural burials and the high cost of funerals; recommended use of a death certificate.

Effigy

a life-sized, waxen recreation 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

Funeral Feast

In Middle Ages the wake also served as a feast to welcome the principal heir to his new estate. for the ancient Greeks, funeral feasts ended the fast of the bereaved

Leagues of Prayer

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

Purgatorial Doctrine

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

Soul Shot

mortuary fee paid to insure entrance of the decedent's soul into heaven.

Steward of the Guild

a person appointed by the priest to function as church administrator to schedule funeral masses, collect fees for soul shots and see to any details that needed to be completed.

Wake

originated as an ancient Hebrew practice, family and friends sit with the deceased as a precaution against premature burial; continued as an act of piety in Middle Ages (aka vigil for

the dead).