Tag Archives: burial

Social change after the plague: personal religion

The earliest stages of the Protestant Reformation began in the years immediately after the plague. There was a widespread sense that the Church as an institution had let the people down. The Church had promised that if they were supported … Continue reading

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Royal burials

Some of the normal rules, such as masses said and bells rung, applied. But there are some pretty bizarre exceptions among royal medieval burial stories. Chiefly, any European tradition of embalming comes straight from them. Lacking Lenin-type methods, they just … Continue reading

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Typical funerals in medieval England

Medieval funerals could be simple paupers’ burials, similar to the monastic or leper colony burial, or they could be elaborate on a scale beyond modern imagination. It all depended on who had died and what message the family wanted to … Continue reading

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A monastic funeral

Records from the past are limited, so the few records we have take on disproportionate importance. The monastic order for Christian burial was carefully written down; we must assume that burial in general followed this pattern, though we know a … Continue reading

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Coffins, shrouds and bones

Early medieval Europe was thickly forested, but by the late Middle Ages, even Sherwood Forest and the Black Forest had thinned and dwindled. As iron became the primary building material, more and more wood was devoted to charcoal production for … Continue reading

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Early medieval burials

The Medieval period is generally counted from around the end of the Western Roman Empire, sort of 500-600ish, to the end of the Eastern Roman Empire with the fall of Constantinople. One of the major dividing lines within this period … Continue reading

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