The Dying and the Dead in Gratian's Decretum
1993; University of California; Volume: 24; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1557-0290
Autores Tópico(s)Violence, Religion, and Philosophy
ResumoT H E DYING AND THE DEAD IN GRATTAN'S DECRETUM Marta VanLandingham O n e o f the d e f i n i n g tenets o f the medieval C h r i s t i a n religion involved the resurrection o f the dead on the day o f judgment. After the Second C o m i n g o f Christ, the souls of the dead w o u l d be reunited w i t h their reconstituted bodies, and those found worthy would be led into par adise. Hut jusr whar form w o u l d this reconsriruted body take? T h e church fathers explained that G o d w o u l d reassemble the actual physical remains o f the i n d i v i d u a l — n o matter how scattered, decayed, or unrec ognizable they might be. G o d , i n his omnipotence, could easily breathe life back into our dust. But many theologians o f the later M i d d l e Ages, i n c l u d i n g such luminaries as Peter L o m b a r d , A l b e r t the Great and Thomas Aquinas, sought the answers to more detailed questions about the resurrected body. W o u l d it be reformed in the image o f our youth or o f our decrepit dying days? W h a t w o u l d be done w i t h extra physical material, such as discarded hair and fingernails? Animals would regurgitate eaten human flesh, but what about the flesh eaten by cannibals—with whose reconstituted body w o u l d it be included? In the context of this discussion, a study o f the late medieval attitude toward the d y i n g and the dead could prove i l l u m i n a t i n g . Was death treated as a goodbye or as an au revolt*. Were the corpses viewed as p o l luting, or were they carefully prepared for their resurrection like aging beauties at bedtime, or ultimately handled without concern since the Lord would be able to reassemble rhem come what may? T h e actual, practical treatment o f corpses could reveal to what extent the musings and rulings of the theologians affected the rest o f the population. I f the clergy and the lay people involved in burial consistently approached the dying w i t h an attitude o f temporary rather rhan final farewell, and if bodies were ban-
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