Death, Judgement Day, and Memento Mori

Death in medieval England was neither a taboo subject nor something that people generally tried to ignore. The skeleton became a popular motif in tomb effigies and wall paintings under the theme of memento mori – however glorious and powerful you are in this world, this is what awaits you all, so better pray for the soul in the grave now so that they do the same when your turn comes.

The theology around death was complicated, though, involving such concepts as Purgatory – a place where the departed’s sins are burnt away before they can enter Heaven – which all but the most virtuous or sinful had to experience unless they committed an unspeakable crime or were canonized at once. This gave the living an opportunity to shorten their loved ones’ stay in Purgatory by paying masses said for their intercession, sending pilgrimages on their behalf, or donating to charities, mendicants, road construction, or bridge building – or buying an indulgence. This was a document that promised to cut one’s Purgatory time by a certain percentage in exchange for a particular number of prayers, which the purchaser could perform themselves. All the departed, regardless of their status in life, were destined to be resurrected at the Judgement Day. This is when their bodies would have been unearthed and brought to meet their soul (Unless they were unbaptized children, suicides, witches, heretics, or traitors, who had been sentenced to spiritual execution at the time of their death).

Step into 14th-century England—start reading The Draychester Chronicles today.