Title: Death in fifteenth century Castile : ideologies of the elites /
Authors: Vivanco, Laura, 1974-
Publisher: Tamesis,
Year: 2004
Subjects: Death Spain Castile History; Death Spain Castile Religious aspects.; Death Social aspects Spain Castile.; Funeral rites and ceremonies Spain Castile History; Mourning customs Spain Castile History; Death Religious aspects
Abstract: "The theory of the three estates made clear distinctions between the functions of the two estates which comprised the elite of medieval society: the oradores (ecclesiastics) and the defensores (warriors or nobility). They had different lifestyles, clothing and ways of thinking about life. With regard to death, the responses dictated by Christian theology conflicted with the demands of the defensor ideology, based on the defence of individual honour, the pursuit of fama, and the display of earthly power. This book charts the progress of the dying from their preparations for death, through their 'good' or 'bad' deaths, to their burials and other-worldly fates, and also analyses the responses of the bereaved.
Contents: I. Introduction -- II. Types of death -- Introduction -- The oradores: Christianity and the good death -- The defensores: good death in battle -- Bad deaths -- Sudden deaths as a result of an outside agency -- Deaths imposed by the judicial system -- Self-inflicted deaths -- Conclusion -- III. The afterlife -- The oradores and the afterlife -- God and the devil -- Heaven, hell and purgatory -- The defensores and the vida de la fama -- Conclusion -- IV. The bereaved -- Introduction -- The oradores: ritual and remembrance -- Defensores and the mingling of secular and sacred in funeral customs -- Consolation and the oradores' opposition to excessive grief -- Fortaleza, grief and the defensores -- Grief and gender -- Grief and social status -- Conclusion -- V. conclusion -- Introduction -- Oradores -- Defensores -- Conflict and co-existence.