I came across absolution for the dead used in instances of post-mortem
revenancy. In some cases when a body was said to be wandering from its grave
at night, the proposed method of laying it to rest was to exhume the body
and place a letter of absolution on its breast. Other apparent variants on
this idea include sprinkling the corpse with holy water; and making sure
that the grave is properly marked with a cross. I think these crop up in
12C- texts, but there could be later examples. If you're interested, I
discuss these cases in "Wraiths, Revenants, and Ritual in Medieval Culture,"
*Past and Present* 152, August 1996: 3-45. My apologies for the
self-promotion...
--Nancy Caciola
History, UCSD
At 11:52 AM 2/4/00 -0500, you wrote:
>There are a few references to post mortem absolution in E. Vodola,
>Excommunication in the Middle Ages (Berkeley: U of California Pr, 1986).
>
>Related is the question of post mortem condemnations, like that of Pope
>Formosus. Bones or Bodies could be exhumed & burned or (as in F.'s case)
>cast into a river. What effect on the soul might condemnation of the
>deceased be expected to have?
>
>Tom Izbicki
>
>
>
>
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