Knights in battle: The process of mos Teutonicus was often used to preserve and bring home the bodies of aristocratic warriors who fell in distant lands. Mos Teutonicus (  ) was a postmortem funerary custom used in Europe in the Middle Ages as a means of transporting, and solemnly disposing of, the bodies of high status individuals. Nobles would often undergo Mos Teutonicus since their burial plots were often located far away from their place of death. The process involved the removal of the flesh from the body, so that the bones of the deceased could be transported hygienically from distant lands back home. German aristocrats were particularly concerned that burial should not take place in the Holy Land, but rather on home soil. The Florentine chronicler Boncompagno was the first to connect the procedure specifically with German aristocrats, and coins the phrase Mos Teutonicus, meaning 'the Germanic custom'. This is what the bones would resemble as they were transported through the process of Mos Teutonicus. English and French aristocrats generally preferred embalming to Mos Teutonicus, involving the burial of the entrails and heart in a separate location from the corpse. One of the advantages of Mos Teutonicus was that it was relatively economical in comparison with embalming, and was more hygienic. English and French nobles preferred embalming, which did not remove the flesh from the bones. The picture above shows the flesh still on the bones compared to Mos Teutonicus which removed all organs and skin. Corpse preservation was very popular in mediaeval society. The decaying body was seen as a representative of something sinful and evil. Embalming and Mos Teutonicus, along with tomb effigies, were a way of giving the corpse an illusion of stasis and removed the uneasy image of putrification and decay.
 Mos Teutonicus ( Latin for "German custom" ) was a postmortem funerary custom used in Europe in the Middle Ages as a means of transporting, and solemnly disposing of, the bodies of high status individuals. Nobles would often undergo Mos Teutonicus since their burial plots were often located far away from their place of death. The process involved the removal of the flesh from the body, so that the bones of the deceased could be transported hygienically from distant lands back home. German aristocrats were particularly concerned that burial should not take place in the Holy Land, but rather on home soil. The Florentine chronicler Boncompagno was the first to connect the procedure specifically with German aristocrats, and coins the phrase Mos Teutonicus, meaning 'the Germanic custom'. English and French aristocrats generally preferred embalming to Mos Teutonicus, involving the burial of the entrails and heart in a separate location from the corpse. One of the advantages of Mos Teutonicus was that it was relatively economical in comparison with embalming, and was more hygienic. Corpse preservation was very popular in mediaeval society. The decaying body was seen as a representative of something sinful and evil. Embalming and Mos Teutonicus, along with tomb effigies, were a way of giving the corpse an illusion of stasis and removed the uneasy image of putrification and decay.
D
Knights in battle: The process of mos Teutonicus was often used to preserve and bring home the bodies of aristocratic warriors who fell in distant lands.
A
Latin for "German custom"
D
This is what the bones would resemble as they were transported through the process of Mos Teutonicus.
D
English and French nobles preferred embalming, which did not remove the flesh from the bones. The picture above shows the flesh still on the bones compared to Mos Teutonicus which removed all organs and skin.