Death and the Afterlife in the Middle Ages

The aim of this course is twofold: (1) to provide a topical examination of some contemporary issues in medieval historiography and (2) to do so by exploring medieval ideas about death and the afterlife. Using saints, relics, magic, miracles, ghosts, visions, possessions, etc. as a point of departure, we will examine the role of the divine, demonic, and supernatural in the religious beliefs and daily life of people in the Middle Ages. We will discuss various practices of commemoration, mourning, and burial as well the doctrine of resurrection, visions of heaven and hell, ghostly apparitions, and the invention of Purgatory. Most importantly, we will attempt to understand what these beliefs reveal about the medieval world and the social context that gave them meaning.