The Corpse in the Middle Ages: Embalming, Cremating, and the Cultural Construction of the Dead Body

By Romedio Schmitz-Esser

To what extent are the dead truly dead? In medieval society, corpses were assigned special functions and meanings in several different ways. They were still present in the daily life of the family of the deceased, and could even play active roles in the life of the community. Taking the materiality of death as a point of departure, this book comprehensively examines the conservation, burial and destruction of the corpse in its specific historical context. An ambivalent treatment of the dead body emerges, one which necessarily confronts established modern perspectives on death.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: Latin
• ISBN: 1909400874
• ISBN13: 9781909400870
• Release Date: February 2021
• Publisher: Harvey Miller
• Length: 780 Pages
• Weight: 6.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.1" x 8.9" x 11.2"