death

Corpus more regio curatum. When a king dies: Medieval post-mortem care of the body.

Dvořáková, Daniela

The present study deals with how the bodies of deceased medieval kings and other significant persons were treated after death. The body of a monarch still represented royal majesty, which, according to the beliefs of the time, had been entrusted to him by God himself. Because royal majesty was seen as immortal, complex rites of passage were necessary for the burial of kings.

Royal funeral ceremonies in fourteenth-century Central Europe

Zupka, Dušan

Death and dying were a ubiquitous reality of the world of medieval society, with lasting effects on the living from all social groups in equal measure. However, for the rulers of the day, the process of dying and the subsequent burial was an important social, political and cultural event. Over time, special funerary ceremonial complexes developed that included a variety of rituals and symbols which indicated the status and importance of the medieval monarchs.

The legal context of death in the time of the Mojmírs and the Árpáds

Lysý, Miroslav

The death of a person is a complex issue fact that older law looked at in two ways. First and foremost, death represented a consequence; the application of a legal sanction. The oldest law considered execution more as a means of healing, as a ritual, and only in the late Middle Ages was execution thought of as a deterrent or a means of retaliation towards a criminal. In the second approach, death could be a prerequisite for a range of legal consequences.

For salvation of the soul: Rituals before and after death in the Middle Ages (An introduction)

Hlavačková, Miriam
Lysá, Žofia

The question of death is essential at the level of individuals as well as society, from primitive tribes to high theology, ethics or philosophy. The Latin name for death—exitus letalis (natural departure)—implicitly suggests that death in our culture does not mean a definitive end but a mere “departure.” Based on the funeral rituals and myths found in nearly all cultures, almost none considered death to be a definitive end. What part of us departs, to where, in what way? What transcends our death?

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