Chapter 8 Dying in Communities: the Ideal Death between Individual and Communal Requirements in Early Modern Protestantism
In: The Moment of Death in Early Modern Europe, c. 1450–1800Search for other papers by Benedikt Brunner in
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Abstract
One of the characteristic features of early modern dying was that it happened in communities. The community itself was considered a high good; it accompanied the dying person on his or her way into the afterlife. On the basis of funeral sermons from different confessional backgrounds, this article shows the various facets that the deathbed reveals in terms of community. Firstly, the Lord’s Supper had an important function for the preparation of dying. The sacrament symbolised the internalised community with God, which was supposed to protect against loneliness and make the dying person aware that he or she was not alone in the physical and spiritual struggles that dying brings with it. Strength, patience and stamina were provided through the Lord’s Supper. Furthermore, the Dying person was characterised as a role model for the community he or she left behind. Thirdly, there was a resilience enhancing aspect of community, that many sources describe. Funeral writings articulated fundamental principles about how communities should conduct themselves at the moment of death and, through the printing of the funeral writings, also passed on to the following generations with normative intent.