Ralph Houlbrooke
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208761
- eISBN:
- 9780191678134
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208761.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Social History
This chapter discusses the preparation for death as the most important business of earthly existence — a view shared by most preachers and writers of ...
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This chapter discusses the preparation for death as the most important business of earthly existence — a view shared by most preachers and writers of Christian advice literature between the Middle Ages and the early 18th century. In medieval times, the message was reinforced by large numbers of paintings of the Last Judgement over chancel arches. The motif of the dance of death, into which men and women of every age and degree were drawn by skeletal partners, first appeared in England in the pardon churchyard of St Paul's in London in the 1440s. In woodcuts and engravings its portrayal continued long after the Reformation. The skull and the animated skeleton as a personification of death, sometimes armed with a spear, were very popular motifs in every conceivable medium: paintings, engravings, sculptures, and woodcut broadside pictures. The 15th century saw the introduction of the ‘cadaver tomb’ and the portrayal of corpses and skeletons on memorial brasses. All such monuments were designed to remind passers-by of the fate they would soon share. Some of those who commissioned cadaver tombs did so for their own edification as well as to show their equanimity in face of the body's dissolution.Less
This chapter discusses the preparation for death as the most important business of earthly existence — a view shared by most preachers and writers of Christian advice literature between the Middle Ages and the early 18th century. In medieval times, the message was reinforced by large numbers of paintings of the Last Judgement over chancel arches. The motif of the dance of death, into which men and women of every age and degree were drawn by skeletal partners, first appeared in England in the pardon churchyard of St Paul's in London in the 1440s. In woodcuts and engravings its portrayal continued long after the Reformation. The skull and the animated skeleton as a personification of death, sometimes armed with a spear, were very popular motifs in every conceivable medium: paintings, engravings, sculptures, and woodcut broadside pictures. The 15th century saw the introduction of the ‘cadaver tomb’ and the portrayal of corpses and skeletons on memorial brasses. All such monuments were designed to remind passers-by of the fate they would soon share. Some of those who commissioned cadaver tombs did so for their own edification as well as to show their equanimity in face of the body's dissolution.
Pat Jalland
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201885
- eISBN:
- 9780191675058
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201885.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter discusses the death of elderly people and the plight they have to undergo as they age, such as social disengagement, loneliness and isolation, dependency, and a declining sense of ...
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This chapter discusses the death of elderly people and the plight they have to undergo as they age, such as social disengagement, loneliness and isolation, dependency, and a declining sense of usefulness. In this chapter the focus is on the different problems and compensations of old age. This is looked at through various correspondence and writings of elderly people in the Victorian times. The chapter also discusses the concept of an accepted death, the preparation for death brought about by aging, and the absence of emotional trauma brought about by the concept of a natural progression of life.Less
This chapter discusses the death of elderly people and the plight they have to undergo as they age, such as social disengagement, loneliness and isolation, dependency, and a declining sense of usefulness. In this chapter the focus is on the different problems and compensations of old age. This is looked at through various correspondence and writings of elderly people in the Victorian times. The chapter also discusses the concept of an accepted death, the preparation for death brought about by aging, and the absence of emotional trauma brought about by the concept of a natural progression of life.
Ralph Houlbrooke
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208761
- eISBN:
- 9780191678134
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208761.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Social History
This chapter discusses the gradual shrinking of the religious functions of the will during the centuries following the Reformation. Wills have been the ...
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This chapter discusses the gradual shrinking of the religious functions of the will during the centuries following the Reformation. Wills have been the subject of close analysis and much controversy in recent decades. They have been studied for the light they throw upon the development of religious opinions, the changing nature of charitable bequests, and the strength of individual relationships with families and neighbours. Research has tended to focus on particular communities or topics. The chapter takes a broad and long view of the evolution of the will as a document drawn up in preparation for death.Less
This chapter discusses the gradual shrinking of the religious functions of the will during the centuries following the Reformation. Wills have been the subject of close analysis and much controversy in recent decades. They have been studied for the light they throw upon the development of religious opinions, the changing nature of charitable bequests, and the strength of individual relationships with families and neighbours. Research has tended to focus on particular communities or topics. The chapter takes a broad and long view of the evolution of the will as a document drawn up in preparation for death.
Ralph Houlbrooke
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208761
- eISBN:
- 9780191678134
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208761.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Social History
This chapter discusses changes in the practice of will-making between the 15th and 18th centuries. The will ceased to be something in which the clergy ...
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This chapter discusses changes in the practice of will-making between the 15th and 18th centuries. The will ceased to be something in which the clergy had an important part to play. By 1750 the attorney had replaced the clergyman as the main source of professional expertise in matters of testamentary. Between the Reformation and the 18th century, the previously close connection between will-making and death was loosened. The will became a more secular document and its making more private.Less
This chapter discusses changes in the practice of will-making between the 15th and 18th centuries. The will ceased to be something in which the clergy had an important part to play. By 1750 the attorney had replaced the clergyman as the main source of professional expertise in matters of testamentary. Between the Reformation and the 18th century, the previously close connection between will-making and death was loosened. The will became a more secular document and its making more private.
Lydia M.D. Dugdale (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262029124
- eISBN:
- 9780262328579
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262029124.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Bioethics
Most of us are generally ill-equipped for dying. Today, we neither see death nor prepare for it. But this has not always been the case. In the early fifteenth century, the Catholic Church published ...
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Most of us are generally ill-equipped for dying. Today, we neither see death nor prepare for it. But this has not always been the case. In the early fifteenth century, the Catholic Church published the Ars moriendi texts, which established prayers and practices for an art of dying. In the twenty-first century, physicians rely on procedures and protocols for the efficient management of hospitalized patients. How might we recapture an art of dying that facilitates our dying well? In this book, physicians, philosophers, and theologians attempt to articulate a bioethical framework for dying well in a secularized, diverse society. Contributors discuss such topics as the acceptance of human finitude; the role of hospice and palliative medicine; spiritual preparation for death; and the relationship between community and individual autonomy. They also consider special cases, including children, elderly patients with dementia, and those suffering from AIDS in the early years of the epidemic, when doctors could do little more than accompany their patients in humble solidarity. These chapters make the case that only a robust bioethics—one that could foster both the contemplation of finitude and the cultivation of community–could bring about a modern art of dying well.Less
Most of us are generally ill-equipped for dying. Today, we neither see death nor prepare for it. But this has not always been the case. In the early fifteenth century, the Catholic Church published the Ars moriendi texts, which established prayers and practices for an art of dying. In the twenty-first century, physicians rely on procedures and protocols for the efficient management of hospitalized patients. How might we recapture an art of dying that facilitates our dying well? In this book, physicians, philosophers, and theologians attempt to articulate a bioethical framework for dying well in a secularized, diverse society. Contributors discuss such topics as the acceptance of human finitude; the role of hospice and palliative medicine; spiritual preparation for death; and the relationship between community and individual autonomy. They also consider special cases, including children, elderly patients with dementia, and those suffering from AIDS in the early years of the epidemic, when doctors could do little more than accompany their patients in humble solidarity. These chapters make the case that only a robust bioethics—one that could foster both the contemplation of finitude and the cultivation of community–could bring about a modern art of dying well.
