The Reformation of the Dead: Death and Ritual in Early Modern Germany, c.1450-1700

by C. Koslofsky

Overview

Koslofsky examines the human encounter with death in Germany from the eve of the Reformation to the rise of Pietism. The Protestant Reformation transformed the funeral more profoundly than any other ritual of the traditional church. Luther's doctrine of salvation 'by faith alone' made the foundation of the traditional funeral, intercession for the dead in Purgatory, obsolete. By drawing on anthropological interpretations of death ritual, this study explores the changing relationships between the body, the soul, the living and the dead in the daily life of early modern Germany.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333666852
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	10/21/1999
Series:	Early Modern History: Society and Culture , #14263
Edition description:	2000
Pages:	223
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Craig M. Koslofsky is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Death, Ritual and the Reformation PART ONE: SEPARATING THE LIVING FROM THE DEAD Souls: The Death of Purgatory and the Reformation Bodies: Placing the Dead in the German Reformation PART TWO: THE LUTHERAN FUNERAL RITUAL TO 1700 The Formation of the Lutheran Funeral Ritual Honor and Violence: Funerals in the Confessional Age From Disgrace to Distinction: Nocturnal Burial in Seventeenth Century Germany Death, Ritual and History Index

Editorial Reviews

"...should be essential reading for all students of the Reformation." - Gary K. Waite, Canadian Journal of History

Craig M. Koslofsky's book is an important contribution to the social history of the reformation. American Historical Review

From the Publisher

Craig M. Koslofsky's book is an important contribution to the social history of the reformation.

American Historical Review

Not reforming the dead, which might outstrip even the most enthusiastic optimism of newly converted protestants, but how the Protestant Reformation impacted the religious activities relating to the dead is Koslofsky's (history, U. of Illinois-Urbana- Champaign) concern. He describes how sons and daughters stopped payments for intercession for the souls of their deceased parents; citizens mocked the relics of their patron saints; and people of all stations stopped buying indulgences, singing masses for the dead, and touching the relics of a saint. They also closed Purgatory. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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