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Re-assessing the ars moriendi : good and bad deaths in early modern England
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Capp, Bernard (2023) Re-assessing the ars moriendi : good and bad deaths in early modern England. The Seventeenth Century, 38 (1). pp. 5-21. doi:10.1080/0268117x.2022.2113821 ISSN 0268-117X.
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WRAP-Re-assessing-ars-moriendi-good-bad-deaths-early-modern-England-22.pdf - Accepted Version Embargoed item. Restricted access to Repository staff only until 18 April 2024. Contact author directly, specifying your specific needs. - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (419Kb) |
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/0268117X.2022.2113821
Abstract
The mediaeval concept of the ‘good death’ lived on into the early modern period, suitably modified, through prescriptive and descriptive accounts that emanated from the ranks of the godly. How far the same understanding was shared across the wider society is a question that has been little considered. This article addresses the issue through the letters of the prolific Jacobean news-writer, John Chamberlain, over a period of thirty years. What emerges from his own comments, those of his many friends and acquaintances, and the opinions of what he calls ‘the world’, is that the concept had a very different and far more secular shape for those beyond the godly. The spiritual dimension was marginal. What counted most was whether the deceased had provided well for their dependants, left a good name behind them, and had died at peace with the world. That made the timeliness of a death a critical consideration; had it occurred with these desiderata firmly secured? The article then goes on to examine a range of sources over a far longer time-scale to assess how far the picture that emerges from the case-study matches other evidence.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BD Speculative Philosophy D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain P Language and Literature > PR English literature |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > History | ||||||||
SWORD Depositor: | Library Publications Router | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Chamberlain, John, 1554?-1628 -- Correspondence , Death in literature, Death , Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 16th century | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | The Seventeenth Century | ||||||||
Publisher: | Routledge | ||||||||
ISSN: | 0268-117X | ||||||||
Official Date: | 2023 | ||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 38 | ||||||||
Number: | 1 | ||||||||
Number of Pages: | 17 | ||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 5-21 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1080/0268117x.2022.2113821 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in The Seventeenth Century on 18/10/2022, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/0268117x.2022.2113821 | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Copyright Holders: | The Seventeenth Century | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 3 November 2022 |
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