The Corpse in the Middle Ages: Embalming, Cremating, and the Cultural Construction of the Dead Body

by Romedio Schmitz-Esser, Albrecht Classen (Translator), Carolin Radtke (Translator)

Overview

To what extent are the dead truly dead? In medieval society, corpses were assigned special functions and meanings in several different ways. They were still present in the daily life of the family of the deceased, and could even play active roles in the life of the community. Taking the materiality of death as a point of departure, this book comprehensively examines the conservation, burial and destruction of the corpse in its specific historical context. A complex and ambivalent treatment of the dead body emerges, one which necessarily confronts established modern perspectives on death. New scientific methods have enabled archaeologists to understand the remains of the dead as valuable source material. This book contextualizes the resulting insights for the first time in an interdisciplinary framework, considering their place in the broader picture drawn by the written sources of this period, ranging from canon law and hagiography to medieval literature and historiography. It soon becomes obvious that the dead body is more than a physical object, since its existence only becomes relevant in the cultural setting it is perceived in. In analogy to the findings for the living body in gender studies, the corpse too, can best be understood as constructed. Ultimately, the dead body is shaped by society, i.e. the living. This book examines the mechanisms by which this cultural construction of the body took place in medieval Europe. The result is a fascinating story that leads deep into medieval theories and social practices, into the discourses of the time and the daily life experiences during this epoch.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781909400870
Publisher:	Brepols Publishers
Publication date:	02/18/2021
Series:	Harvey Miller Studies in the History of Culture
Edition description:	Bilingual
Pages:	780
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 11.20(h) x 2.10(d)
Language:	Latin

Table of Contents

ABOUT THE TRANSLATION FOREWORD INTRODUCTION The Constructed Corpse: Methodology, Structure, and Goals Burial between Norm and Practice St Augustine and the Constructed Sanctity The Staged Corpse No Fear of the Dead Body Parts and the Gaze Upon the Dead Body A Topic between Popular Hype and Historical Lack of Interest: The State of Research CHAPTER I: THE BURIED CORPSE The Corpse and the Resurrection The Soul, the Corpse, and the Beyond The Eternal and the Eternally Disturbed Grave Drowning and the Element of Baptism Cremating the Dead: Between Concern and Banning The Proper Burial in the Middle Ages The Quest for the Phantom: The Standard Burial in the Christian Middle Ages Symbolism of Light and the Position of the Dead in the Grave Solitary Burial and Group Affiliation of the Corpse The Corpse is Coming to the Living: The Cult of the Martyrs and the Burial with Saints The Development of the Church Graveyard Interment in the Time of Crisis War Dead and Their Graves Death as a Result of Epidemics, the Black Death, and Burial The Corpse Portrayed Summary CHAPTER II: THE HOLY CORPSE Real Presence and the Cult of Relics The Holy Corpse as a Self-Determined Being Transfer of Relics and Fragmenting of the Corpse Desired Relics, Corpse Desecration, and the Dead as a Valuable Treasure The Corpse as Proof of Sanctity Corpus Incorruptum, Mumification, and Created Sanctity The Aromatically Smelling Corpse Innocent Liquids: The Leichenol Medieval Complementary Logic: The Corpses of the Valde Boni and the Valde Mali Summary CHAPTER III: EMBALMING AND THE PRESERVATION OF CORPSES Ancient Embalming in the Middle Ages Ancient Mummies and the Christian Occident Aromatibus conditum The Biblical Model and Early Christian Embalming Embalming in the Time of the Merovingians Sanctity and (Repeated) Embalming Change of the Embalming Technique in the Time of the Carolingians Rotting and the Ideal of a Fast Burial Ritual of Burial and the Transport of the Corpse A New Method: Opening of the Corpse to Remove the Entrails and the Badly Smelling Corpse of Charles the Bald Embalming in the High Middle Ages Transfer of Corpses since the High Middle Ages Embalming in the Tenth Century Embalming in the Time of the Salian and the Hohenstaufen Dynasties Robert Guiscard, Sven Gabelbart, and Embalming in the Kingdom of England Embalming in the Kingdom of France The Desert and the King of Jerusalem Popes and Saints Roland, Henry the Lion, and the Deer Hide: Embalming Practice in the Literary Discourse Corpse Transport and Social Prestige: Changes in the Process of Embalming in the Course of the High Middle Ages Kitchen, Cooking, and the Treatment of the Corpse Cooking the Corpsea "mos Teutonicus"? Boiling of Corpses in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries The Bull Detestandae feritatis by Pope Boniface VIII from 1299 and the End of Boiling Corpses The White Bone: The Sanctity of the Boiled Body Individuals Charged with Taking Care of the Corpse and Corpse Washing Dissection of the Corpse and the Professionalization of Embalming Ar-Razi and Medicine in the High Middle Ages Henry of Mondeville, Guy de Chauliac, and the Process of Embalming in Late Medieval and Early Modern Medicine Innovations in High and Late Medieval Embalming Processes and the Anthropological and Archeological Data Opening of the Three Corporal Cavities The Application of Mercury Wax and Linen Galen and the Cold, Humid Corpse: Drying of the Corpse as a Technique in Embalming Aerial Drying of the Corpse Hygiene or the Preservation of the Corpse: Gypsum, Lime, and Hops Booming of Embalming: From the Eighteenth Century to Today Embalming, Preservation of the Body, and the Cult of Relics Summary CHAPTER IV: AUTHORITY AND THE CORPSE Visiting a Corpsethe Visit by a Corpse The Ruler's Corpse as a Sign of Victory The Specialists of Death and Their Ruler Clientele: The Location of the Grave and the Row of Corpses as a Means for Legitimization Conversion, Legitimacy, and the Beloved Bones of the Ancestors Summary CHAPTER V: THE COMMUNITY OF THE DEAD AND THE CORPSE IN THE "ORDO" Hierarchy of the Funeral Sites The Unclean Corpse and the Church as a Burial Site Old Age, Gender, and Kinship: The Hierarchy of the Burial Sites in Medieval Cemeteries Grave Donations Between Here and the Afterlife Clothing Provides Status to the Dead: Insignia of Social Class and the Identification of Corpses Pedum, Paten, Chalice, and Ring: The Burial of Priests and Bishops Crown, Scepter, Orb, and Royal Vestments: The Burial of Emperors and Kings Does God Forget the Names of the Dead? Tables with Inscriptions as Burial Objects and Inscriptions on the Sarcophagus Monastic Habit and Valuable Thread: Monks, Noblemen, Simple People, and Their Clothing for the Beyond Objects Useful for the Corpse Relics, Torture Instruments, and Hosts: Supporters for the Dead Written Documents, Indulgence Letters, and Seals as Documents of Faith Dead Pilgrims Plants and Herbs, Holy Water, Incense, and Coal: Funerary Objects Between Practice and Symbolism Shoes for the Day of Judgment Summary CHAPTER VI: THE CORPSE AND THE LAW The Corpse as the Interim Occupant of an Office The Corpse as Both Subject and Object of the Law The Corpse at Court Strikes with the Sword, Bleeding Corpses, and the Beginning of Forensics in the Middle Ages The Cemetery as a Place of Trial Marking Borders, Church Authority, and the Value of the Corpse The Funeral of the Corpse as an Economic Factor The Corpse and Marking of Borders Summary CHAPTER VII: THE LIVING CORPSE The Sleeping Dead and Its Physically Continued Life Signs of Life: Speaking, Bleeding, and Continued Growth of Nails and Hair Funeral Ritual to Prevent the Appearance of Revenants Placing Weights on the Corpse and the Separation and Breaking of the Legs Decapitation Impalement, Nailing Down, and Interment at a Crossroad Vampires in the Middle Ages? The Cremation of Revenants Obol and Payment of the Dead: Funerary Objects as a One-Way Ticket to the Afterlife? The Corpse Besieged by Demons The Active Corpse Summary CHAPTER VIII: THE DESTRUCTION AND DESECRATION OF CORPSES Deviation from the Funerary Ritual as Punishment and Exclusion Denial of Burial in Sacred Ground On Children Under the Churchs Eaves and Pilgrimage Sites: The Unbaptized Dead and Children According to Archaeological Data Suicide and the Corpses of Suicide Victims Excommunicated Corpses and Death Under the Interdict The Example of Emperor Henry IV A Few Years of Eternity, or Was There a Permanent Exclusion of Those Who Had Been Excommunicated The Last of the Hohenstaufen and Their Excommunication: Conrad IV, Manfred of Sicily, and Conradin the Younger The High Medieval Debate on the Punishment of Corpses Exhumation as a Weapon in the Fight Against the Cathars The Growing Concern with the Moral Integrity of the Dead: Individuals Responsible for Church Desecration, Those Who Rejected Confession, and Those Dead Who Had Died without Their Guilt Having Been Forgiven and Atoned In the Case of Doubt Against the Dead: The Liturgists Fear of the Unknown and the Foreign Death with the Lance in Hand: The Burial of Those Who Had Died in a Tournament The Burial of the Executed Being a Warrior and a Christian: The Exclusion from Burial in Light of Discourse Theory Corpse Desecration The Case of Pope Formosus Corpse Desecration as a Punishment The Ruler's Corpse and the Use of Scalps: Corpse Desecration as a Sign of Physical Superiority Burning and Physical Annihilation The Symbolism of Fire Death by Fire in the Early Middle Ages: Arsonists, Sodomites, Poisoners, Magicians, and Unusual Women The Burning of Heretics and Witches in the High and Late Middle Ages The Destruction of Corpses in the Early Modern Time The Humble Corpse Burial in Simple Clothing The Corpse Placed on Ash Paradise and the Naked Earth: The Burial Site as a Sign of Christian Humility The Penitent Approaching the Day of Judgment: Pippin the Short and Prone Burial Humility of the Medieval Corpse Summary CHAPTER IX: THE CORPSE AS MEDICINE AND MIRACLE CURE The Corpse as Royal Blessing? The Corpse as a Medium to Create Miracles and Magic Charges Against Heretics, Witches, and Jews: Ritual Murder and Mirroring the Eucharist The Corpses of Executed People as Medicine Mumia vera Mummies as a Medical Drug Building Sacrifice and the Corpse as a Weapon Summary CHAPTER X: HEART, HEAD, AND HANDTHE BODY PARTS OF CORPSES FROM AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND ANATOMICAL PERSPECTIVE The Practice of Multiple Burials in the High and Late Middle Ages Heart Head Hand Summary EPILOGUE BIBLIOGRAPHY INDICES