Death in The Middle Ages
"The plight of the lower and most of the middle classes was even more pitiful to behold. Most of them remained in their houses, either through poverty or in hopes of safety, and fell sick by thousands. Since they received no care and attention, almost all of them died. Many ended their lives in the streets both at night and during the day, and many others who died in their houses were only known to be dead because the neighbours smelled their decaying bodies. Dead bodies filled every corner. Most of them were treated in the same manner by the survivors, who were more concerned to get rid of their rotting bodies than moved by charity towards the dead. With the aid of porters, if they could get them, they carried the bodies out of the houses and laid them at the door; where every morning quantities of the dead might be seen. They then were laid on biers or, as these were often lacking, on tables.”
If there’s anything the Middle Ages is synonymous with, it is death. More specifically the Black Death., which ravaged most of Europe and Asia, killing about 200 million people, and is considered the worst known natural catastrophe in recorded history. The excerpt above is from the book ‘The Decameron’ written by Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio and inspired by the effects of the plague on his city Florence.
Although the Middle Ages were plagued by the Black Death, religion and war were also main features of the era, and those two combined to produce one of the most memorable periods of Architecture -- the Romanesque and Gothic architecture. As the people in the Middle Ages struggled with sickness, they had to deal with invaders and wars so, a major focus of their Architecture was fortification and defence: castles, fences etc. to keep out raiders.
During this time, only lucky people lived to see their mid-thirties, many died due to sickness or war. The ubiquitous nature of death in this era meant that most people’s lives were centred around death. A bulk of the messages taught to Christians focused on the afterlife in heaven or hell, and how the time on earth was temporary and in preparation for the afterlife.
Nobles and Kings still took their deaths seriously with many choosing to buried in tombs in grand cathedrals. Although, kings often expressed where they would like to be buried, it was up to the family to decide their final resting place.
The end of the plague brought about a new world order, the Renaissance period, where people were more artistic and individual expression was the peak at this era, you could argue that surviving and seeing that much death pushed people into trying to live and express themselves unapologetically because if you’ve faced death what else can you fear?
Africa
While there are some reports of the plague reaching North Africa, it is not reported to have spread down south the way it did the rest of the world. Egypt was an advanced civilization in the Ancient World but by the The Middle Ages the gap had greatly reduced. The Middle Ages in Africa was a time of war, and the expansion or contraction of kingdoms. The concept and perception of death varied across the continent, but most cultures on the continent shared the idea of ancestors and many had elaborate ceremonies to celebrate the transition of the dead to ancestors. In many parts of Africa, there was the belief that the dead could only secure their place as ancestors rather than vengeful ghosts if their deaths had been registered by those closest to them as well as the social class they were members of.
The attitude towards death wasn’t one of fear or anticipation, it was acceptance, the only caveat being the manner of death, with some considered honourable such as dying on the battlefield while others were considered taboo such as death by suicide. If it was considered a dishonourable death, there would be no ceremony and the body was buried far away. Because of this “acceptance” of death many structures were not built to mark death, there were however funeral celebrations but this was about preparing the dead for the afterlife or celebrating a life well-lived.
In some parts of Africa like Mali and Somalia, the perception of death changed with the influence of Islam. Their approach to death changed and these cultures adopted the religion’s views on death with a few cultural peculiarities. While Islam believes in the afterlife like most religions, they tend to have very subtle funerals. Even with the influence of Islam, Kings still built tombs in Timbuktu, Old Mali and still maintained some particular local practices. The locals believed these tombs protected the city from danger. Of these tombs, the most famous is the Tomb of Askia.
A few thoughts
The attitude towards death in the Ancient World and Middle Ages were vastly different. On one hand, the Ancient World acknowledged death and, in some cases, even celebrated it. They built several majestic structures to mark the death of people, such as the grand pyramids in Egypt, the Aztec pyramids, Mausoleums and so forth.
On the other hand, The Middle Ages were not as concerned with commemorating death. The ever-present nature of death due to wars, sicknesses and more importantly The Black death created an indifference towards death and therefore not many structures were constructed to mark death.
The two eras did however have certain similarities, for example, the belief in the afterlife was common to both eras and while the depictions or the myths around death and the afterlife varied, the belief never waned. Death was seen as a portal into a new life.
Another common theme was that many of the elites or ruling families got most of the grand tombs and monuments while the regular citizens had to settle for more conservative but functional means of memorializing the deceased.
Death has given us many great structures, from the Pyramids of Giza, Necropolis, the Aztec pyramids, the great mausoleum in China, the obelisk in Ethiopia to the tombs in the Gothic cathedrals. What these structures tell us is that although people knew they would die, they did not want to be forgotten and it was up to the people alive to preserve their memory. No matter how different the funeral rites or monuments were across eras and cultures, the sentiment remained the same. The dead are kept alive by the living.