quiz 4 (middle ages)

Question 1

what were the middle ages

Answer 1

• after collapse of roman empire
• ended with start of renaissance
• the dark ages

Question 2

structure of the middle ages

Answer 2

• feudal system
• hierarchy/class structure
• kings, baron, knights, clergy, merchants, peasants

Question 3

life of peasants in the middle ages

Answer 3

• housed with animals
• inadequate clothing
• food was scarce
• died sooner

Question 4

general living conditions in the middle ages

Answer 4

• small cities surrounded by walls
• average age of 38
• poor hygiene
• new sewer system
• death seen everday

Question 5

christian influence on the middle ages

Answer 5

• fall of Rome brought christianity
• church more powerful
• influenced death and funerals

Question 6

christian influence on funerals

Answer 6

• more dignified funeral
• pomp/splendor grew over time
• charity given to poor
  burial clubs for middle class
• then later christian reformation
• sumptuary laws passed
• rejection of doctrine of purgatory

Question 7

purgatorial doctrine

Answer 7

catholic belief that the souls that are not perfectly cleansed must undergo a process of cleansing before they can enter heaven

Question 8

leagues of prayer

Answer 8

society of lay persons who prayed for the souls of the departed

Question 9

steward of the guild

Answer 9

appointed by priest to function as a church administrator - scheduled mass, collected, fees for soul shots, oversaw operations

Question 10

soul shot

Answer 10

fee paid to the church to ensure the rise fo the decedents soul into heaven

Question 11

sexton

Answer 11

church caretaker - rang church bells and dug graves

Question 12

christian influence on burial

Answer 12

• nobility/clergy = in the church
• commoners = in church yard
• suicide = separate cemetery
• wealthy = coffins
• feet buried toward the east

Question 13

tombs and monument evolution in the middle ages

Answer 13

• early = lids formed continuous portions of the pavement of churches; contained effigies made of wood, plated with bronze/copper
• later = adorned with festoon and canopy grew in size; encumbered church; contained effigies made of bronze and sliver

Question 14

the plagues of the middle ages

Answer 14

• over 3 centuries
• bubonic plague or black death
• bubonic = bacteria spread through fleas on rats
• pneumonic = spread through the air
• died within 4 days

Question 15

plague burials during the middle ages

Answer 15

• priests no longer performed last rites
• burial crisis because …
• so many deaths = mass graves “plague pits”
• no ceremonies
• hard to find cemetery workers since they died often

Question 16

the english undertaker in middle ages

Answer 16

• undertake used to describe any general work
• funeral undertaker was shortened to just undertaker
• started as builders/tradesman transitioned to coffin makers

Question 17

barber surgeons in the middle ages

Answer 17

• clergy performed medicine till they “couldn’t have blood on their hands”
• barbers were next best bet since they knew how to use razors
• they would remove teeth, did tattoos, removed gall stones, set fractures, gave enemas, lanced abscesses, bloodletting
• performed rudimentary embalmings
• were of “short robe”
• had beef with physicians (they looked down on them)
• decreed to unify