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All Souls' Day and Cluny's Funeral

  • 중앙사론
  • 2017, (46), pp.391-417
  • Publisher : Institute for Historical Studies at Chung-Ang University
  • Research Area : Humanities > History

Jeong-Min Lee 1

1경상대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Death transformed medieval Christian society, which considered the afterlife to be the ultimate destination. Men buried in monastery cemeteries had obtained the privilege of salvation of their souls, meeting an ideal death through deathbed confession and peaceful funerals. For those seeking eternal rest, the necessity for spiritual relief and fear of the afterlife created cults based around holy relics, which expanded throughout the 980 through the Abbey of Cluny, located in the eastern French region of Saône-et-Loire. The fifth abbot of Cluny, Odilon, was a passionate traditionalist in relation to funerals and entombment and celebrated the day following All Saints’ Day as All Souls’ Day. Because of ritualization of funerals that emphasizes the soul's salvation, interment in a monastery cemetery was a goal that fostered countless donations to Cluny. In this article the role of Cluny and its historical meaning is described, outlining how it led to communication between the deceased and the living and how it created a religious function for dead monks entombed in eleventh century monastery cemeteries. It was said that Cluny sought to be a ‘little Roma', by reinforcing the papacy and establishing an ecclesiastical hierarchy by ritualizing funerals and interments.

Citation status

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