Description
Book SynopsisHow did people of the past prepare for death, and how were their preparations affected by religious beliefs or social and economic responsibilities? Dying Prepared in Medieval and Early Modern Northern Europe analyses the various ways in which people made preparations for death in medieval and early modern Northern Europe, adapting religious teachings to local circumstances. The articles span the period from the Middle Ages to Early Modernity allowing an analysis over centuries of religious change that are too often artificially separated in historical study. Contributors are Dominika Burdzy, Otfried Czaika, Kirsi Kanerva, Mia Korpiola, Anu Lahtinen, Riikka Miettinen, Bertil Nilsson, and Cindy Wood.
Trade Review''[...] a collection of rich, detailed, and often impressive essays. [...]an excellent contribution not olnly to the history of ars moriendi , but also to our understanding of the everyday concerns and anxieties of medieval and early modern Europeans''. Jaska Kainulainen, in Journal of Jesuit Studies , 6 (2019). '' The book shows how the people of the Middle Ages and the early modern period tried to prepare for death throughout their lives. [...] This anthology is a valuable addition to the study of its subject. As both editors notes in their introduction, and as Bertil Nilsson states in his concluding remarks, the findings also open up opportunities for further research''. Petri Karonen in Renaissance Quarterly 72 (3), 1095-1097. DOI: 10.1017/rqx.2019.321.
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Notes on Contributors 1 Introduction: Preparing for a Good Death in Medieval and Early Modern Northern Europe Anu Lahtinen and Mia Korpiola 2 Restless Dead or Peaceful Cadavers? Preparations for Death and Afterlife in Medieval Iceland Kirsi Kanerva 3 William Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester (1366–1404) and His Preparations for Death Cindy Wood 4 “At Death’s Door”: The Authority of Deathbed Confessions in Medieval and Early Modern Swedish Law Mia Korpiola 5 The Concern for Salvation in the Cities of Lesser Poland in the Sixteenth Century Dominika Burdzy 6 Death with an Agenda: Preparing for an Aristocratic Death in Reformation Sweden Anu Lahtinen 7 Dying Unprepared in Early Modern Swedish Funeral Sermons Otfried Czaika 8 “Lord, have mercy on me”: Spiritual Preparations for Suicide in Early Modern Sweden Riikka Miettinen 9 Preparing for Death: Concluding Remarks Bertil Nilsson Select Bibliography
