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The Reformation of the Dead

Death and Ritual in Early Modern Germany, c.1450-1700

  • Book
  • © 2000

Overview

Authors:
  1. Craig M. Koslofsky

    1. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA

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Part of the book series: Early Modern History: Society and Culture (EMH)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. Death, Ritual and the Reformation

    1. Death, Ritual and the Reformation

      • Craig M. Koslofsky
      Pages 1-15

  3. Separating the Living from the Dead

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 17-17
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    2. Souls: the Death of Purgatory and the Reformation

      • Craig M. Koslofsky
      Pages 19-39

    3. Bodies: Placing the Dead in the German Reformation

      • Craig M. Koslofsky
      Pages 40-77

  4. The Lutheran Funeral Ritual to 1700

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 79-79
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    2. The Formation of the Lutheran Funeral Ritual

      • Craig M. Koslofsky
      Pages 81-114

    3. Honour and Violence: Funerals in the Confessional Age

      • Craig M. Koslofsky
      Pages 115-132

    4. From Disgrace to Distinction: Nocturnal Burial in Seventeenth-century Germany

      • Craig M. Koslofsky
      Pages 133-152

    5. Death, Ritual and History

      • Craig M. Koslofsky
      Pages 153-159

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 160-223
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Keywords

About this book

Koslofsky examines the human encounter with death in Germany from the eve of the Reformation to the rise of Pietism. The Protestant Reformation transformed the funeral more profoundly than any other ritual of the traditional church. Luther's doctrine of salvation 'by faith alone' made the foundation of the traditional funeral, intercession for the dead in Purgatory, obsolete. By drawing on anthropological interpretations of death ritual, this study explores the changing relationships between the body, the soul, the living and the dead in the daily life of early modern Germany.

Reviews

"...should be essential reading for all students of the Reformation." - Gary K. Waite, Canadian Journal of History

Craig M. Koslofsky's book is an important contribution to the social history of the reformation. American Historical Review

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA

    Craig M. Koslofsky

About the author

Craig M. Koslofsky is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Reformation of the Dead

  • Book Subtitle: Death and Ritual in Early Modern Germany, c.1450-1700

  • Authors: Craig M. Koslofsky

  • Series Title: Early Modern History: Society and Culture

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230286375

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History Collection, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2000

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-312-22910-8Published: 28 January 2000

  • eBook ISBN: 978-0-230-28637-5Published: 21 October 1999

  • Series ISSN: 2947-9061

  • Series E-ISSN: 2947-907X

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 223

  • Topics: European History, Modern History, Sociology, general

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