Author Archives: Ruth

Maundy Thursday

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Ruth

Maundy Thursday, in the Middle Ages, was a day for charitable acts. Some kings made a practice of washing the feet of beggars. Louix IX of France, later St. Louis, washed the feet of lepers. In more ordinary aristocratic and … Continue reading →

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Easter season

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Ruth

By the week leading up to Easter, medieval people were certainly tired of the Lenten fast. Milk could be turned into cheese, but nobody was allowed to eat it; they only had butter if their region had a papal indulgence. … Continue reading →

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Royal burials

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Ruth

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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Memorial images

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Ruth

While most people vanished into the silence of the countryside, historians are grateful that some took pains to be remembered. Remembrance is easiest when burials took place indoors. Priests were buried inside the church, in its crypt. Their bones helped … Continue reading →

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Typical funerals in medieval England

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Ruth

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

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Ruth

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

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Ruth

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

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Ruth

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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Last will and testament

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Ruth

Like monks, people in the world began by dying legally: writing a will and making last confession. The availability of paper in the 14th century made actual written wills much more common and, at last, mandatory. Outside the monastery, dying … Continue reading →

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Care for the dying

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Ruth

When medieval people lived to old age, most of them had families who cared for them. Some lived in monastic communities, which were well-equipped to care for the aging. A wing of the monastery was always devoted to nursing care; … Continue reading →

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