• Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Vigor Mortis: The Vitality of the Dead in Medieval Societies

Vigor Mortis: The Vitality of the Dead in Medieval Societies

Hardcover

Medieval & Renaissance History

ISBN10: 1032884878
ISBN13: 9781032884875
Publisher: Routledge
Published: Dec 16 2024
Pages: 154
Weight: 1.04
Height: 0.44 Width: 6.69 Depth: 9.61
Language: English

This volume explores the enduring presence and participation of the dead in the lives of premodern people from the Carolingian period to the end of the Middle Ages.

Unlike modern states, which erect barriers to separate the dying and the deceased from their families, friends, and associates, premodern societies in western Europe fostered an on-going relationship between the living and the dead that was mutually beneficial to both parties. As these studies show, the dead had many means at their disposal to communicate their needs and disaffection, including ghostly visitations and unquiet corpses. For their part, medieval authors told stories about the fate of the dead and the geography of the afterlife to dissuade sinful behaviour and foster virtue in preparation for the Last Judgment. Premodern hauntings also serve as a useful metaphor for the uncertainty of archival research in recovering past voices and for the racial presumptions that inform our reconstruction of the western Middle Ages.

1 different editions

Also available

Also from

Bruce, Scott G.

Also in

Medieval & Renaissance History