medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Not to be immodest (again), but I have a long section on the location of
Christian burials in late antiquity and the early middle ages in my book,
Consorting with Saints: Prayer for the Dead in Early Medieval France
(Cornell, 1994)--to make a long story short, as late as the 9th century,
the dead were not always buried in consecrated ground. In fact,
consecrated cemeteries were not always available in rural communities, so
burials took place in fields, family plots, etc. Best, Megan
At 06:22 PM 10/28/2004 -0400, you wrote:
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>A partial answer for Meg aobout early Christian burial. A good book for
>more information, not so much for consecration matters but for burial
>stuff is Habenstein, Robert and Lamers, William. The History of American
>Funeral Directing. Milwaukee: National Funeral Directors Association,
>1985. You might check the phone book to see if there is a mortuary
>college near you as they should have this book and more information as well.
>
>He quotes a book by O'Rieley (I can give the certs if anyone needs them)
>who says:
>For the burial of her dead, the church has always prescribed the settig
>apaert and designation of places suitable for the tombs and graves. ...
>the lawe of the church demands that the place set aside for their
>interment should obtain a special religious significance. The
>ground,.......was alwaysconsidered as sacred and was deputed so by suitble
>religiousrites when such were possible. These designated locations wre
>such as the customs and times preferred."
>
>So, yes there would have been some form of consecration.
>
>The earliest Christian burials from apostolic times to the persecution of
>Dormition were in family vaults erected along the roads leading from great
>cities. A sanitary rule from one of the laws of the Twelve Tablets forbad
>cremation or burial inside the city and this held true for
>severalcenturies \. Then you have the period of the catacombs. Catacombs
>were constructed in other countries as well. At the end of the 4th century
>when the great persecutrions ended, it was in vogue for outdoor "open air"
>cemeteries both in Rome and, archaeologists have found, in
>Africa. Although Roman law stilmandated utside city walls, most of the
>Christian ones were inside and near churches. (so, not all next to churches).
>Habenstein points out that funeral practices were greatly influenced by
>the cultures locally.
>
>The bibliography of this book is very extensive and there are several
>books on early Christian burial listed. Also, Philip Aires book on death
>would be a good resource.
>
>Hope this helps a little
>ann
>********************************************************************** To
>join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to:
>[log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to:
>[log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message:
>leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report
>problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
>[log in to unmask] For further information, visit
>our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
Megan McLaughlin
Associate Professor of History and Women's Studies
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of History, 309 Gregory Hall
810 South Wright Street
Urbana, Illinois 61801 U.S.A.
Phone: 217-244-2084
Fax: 217-333-2297
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|