Begravelse i gilderegi i middelalderen

Abstract

Guilds and burial in the Middle Ages
By Lars Bisgaard

Among the many religious duties of the guilds the guild laws contain most information about the funeral. This consisted of a wake, a funeral procession, a mass offering for the dead, and interment. Generally, the funeral seems to have taken place the day after a member’s death. Wake and a funeral feast did not form a single occasion on the first night after the death, and they were not connected until after the Reformation. It is possible to show that some of the guilds had their members buried at religious houses and not in the parish church. Not all types of guilds took care of funerals, and among the higher classes burial was probably arranged by the family. The importance of the burial is seen from the fact that during the Middle Ages the Church made it one of the Seven Acts of Mercy.