Remedies for the Death of a Loved One: Consolation in the Early Modern Times Religious Literature

The European writings with motives of solace on the occasion of the death of a loved one are very diverse in genre terms (reflections on death, consolatory letters, self-consolation dialogues, consolation treatises, ars moriendi manuals, funeral sample sermons and orations, elegiac poetry, manuals on rhetoric, etc.). Elements of continuity may be found between consolatory arguments, developed in the Antiquity and those found in the Middle Ages and by the authors of the early Modern period (death as a necessity and as an act of mercy that spares further suffering and sins; immortality of the soul and the hope of afterlife reunion, etc.); throughout all epochs, the tradition of presenting consolations in the form of soul-healing “remedies” also persists. Christian authors reinterpreted ancient consolation arguments in the light of Christian doctrine; also, the main task of solace or remedies for grief is no more to achieve control over emotions, but to strengthen the Christian in faith. The early Modern period turns with a new intensity to the philosophical heritage of antiquity and the personal examples of thinkers and historical figures of the past, who, along with the biblical king David and the suffering Job, are presented as models for acceptable mourning, attitude towards suffering and death. Catholic consolatory eloquence for the death influenced the Eastern Christian tradition, which produced in the XVII century first examples of consolatory texts (sample sermons for burial in liturgical books, the author's works of Symeon Polotsky), replicating the solace “remedies” circulated in the European culture. Such a similarity of particular ideas and arguments of ancient and Christian authors of different times does not always indicate borrowing or direct continuity, but is only a consequence of the common existential experience of people of different epochs.

Keywords

consolation, death, Antiquity, Christianity, religious literature, Early Modern time

Received

28.09.2022

Publication date

28.09.2022

Number of characters

29620

Cite

GOST	Korzo M. “Remedies” for the Death of a Loved One: Consolation in the Early Modern Times Religious Literature // Chelovek – 2022. – V. 33. – Issue 4 C. 129-147 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://chelovek-journal.ru/S023620070021632-2-1 (circulation date: 03.05.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S023620070021632-2
MLA	Korzo, Margarita "“Remedies” for the Death of a Loved One: Consolation in the Early Modern Times Religious Literature." Chelovek 33.4 (2022):129-147. DOI: 10.31857/S023620070021632-2
APA	Korzo M. (2022). “Remedies” for the Death of a Loved One: Consolation in the Early Modern Times Religious Literature. Chelovek 33(4), pp.129-147 DOI: 10.31857/S023620070021632-2

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 198

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Avvakum. Pis'mo boyaryne F.P. Morozovoi i knyagine E.P. Urusovoi [Letter to the Boyaryna F.P. Morozova and Princess E.P. Urusova]. Russkaya Istoricheskaya Biblioteka [Russian Historical Library]. Vol. 39. Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences Publ., 1927. Col. 923–928.

2. Saint Basil the Great. Tvoreniya: v 2 t. [Works: in 2 vol.]. Vol. 2. Moscow: Sibirskaya Blagozvonnitsa Publ., 2009.

3. Devyataykina N.I. Dva lika odnogo traktata: dialogi renessansnogo gumanista Petrarki i epigrafy k nim reformatsionnogo avtora [Two Faces of One Treatise: Dialogues by Renaissance Humanist Petrarch, and Their Epigraphs by a Reformation Author]. Lyudi i teksty. Istoricheskii al'manakh [People and texts. Historical Almanac]. 2011. N 1. P. 235–253.

4. John Chrysostom. Besedy na Evangelie sv. Apostola Ioanna Bogoslova [Commentary on Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist]. John Chrysostom. Tvoreniya [Works]. Vol. 8. Part 1. St.-Petersburg: St.-Petersburg Theological Academy Publ., 1902.

5. John Chrysostom. Tolkovanie na Evangelie ot Matfeya: v 2 kn. [Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew: in 2 vol.]. Vol. 1. Moscow: Sibirskaya Blagozvonnitsa Publ., 2010.

6. Kerasidi N.Kh. Zhanr utesheniya v drevnegrecheskoi literature [The Genre of Consolation in Ancient Greek Literature]. Problemy istoricheskoi poetiki [Problems of historical poetics]. 1990. Iss. 1. P. 128–136.

7. Korzo M.A. Syuzhet «consolatio mortis» u Simeona Polotskogo: neskol'ko shtrikhov k istochnikam vdokhnoveniya bogoslova [The Topos of consolatio mortis in the Writings of Symeon of Polotsk: Some Hallmarks of the Sources for the Inspiration of the Theologian]. Slavyanovedenie. 2021. N 2. P. 93–101.

8. Lucian of Samosata. Zhizneopisanie Demonakta [A Biography of Demonax]. Lucian of Samosata. Sochineniya: v 2 t. [Works: in 2 vol.]. Vol. 2, ed. by A.I. Zaitsev. S.-Petersburg: Aleteiya Publ., 2001. P. 411–420.

9. Plato. Apologiya Sokrata [Apology of Socrates]. Plato. Sobranie sochinenii: v 4 t. [Works: in 4 vol.]. Vol. 1, ed. by A.F Losev, transl. from Old-Greek by M.S. Solovyov. Moscow: Mysl’ Publ., 1990. P. 70–96.

10. Plato. Fedon [Phaedo]. Plato. Sobranie sochinenii: v 4 t. [Collected Works in 4 vol.]. Vol. 2, ed. by A.F Losev, etc.; transl. from Old-Greek by S.P. Markish. Moscow: Mysl’ Publ., 1993. P. 7–80.

11. Plutarch. O podavlenii gneva [On the Control of Anger]. Plutarch. Moralii: Sochineniya [Moralia: Works]. Moscow: ZAO EKSMO-Press Publ., 1999. P. 611–630.

12. Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Nravstvennye pis'ma k Lutsiliyu [Moral Letters to Lucilius], ed. by S.A. Osherov. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1977.

13. Lucius Annaeus Seneca. O kratkosti zhizni [On the Shortness of Life], transl. by V. Durov. Lucius Annaeus Seneca. O miloserdii [On Mercy]. St. Petersburg: Azbuka-Attikus Publ., 2021. P. 167–198.

14. Symeon Polotsky. Vertograd mnogotsvetnyi [The Garden of Many Flowers]. Vol. II, compil., comm. by A. Hippisley, L.I. Sazonova. Köln; Weimar; Wien: Böhlau Verlag, 1999.

15. Symeon Polotsky. Obed dushevnyi [Soulful Dinner]. Moscow: Verchniya tipografiya Publ., 1681.

16. Tacitus Publius Cornelius. Annaly [Annals]. Tacitus Publius Cornelius. Sochineniya: v 2 t. [Works: in 2 vol.]. Vol. 1, eds. by A.S. Bobovich, Y.M. Borovsky, M.E. Sergeenko. Leningrad: Nauka Publ., 1969. P. 7–326.

17. Titus Livius. Istoriya Rima ot osnovaniya goroda [History of Rome From the Founding of the City]. Vol. 1, eds. by M.L. Gasparov, G.S. Knabe, V.M. Smirin. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1989.

18. Trebnik, sirech" Molitovnik" [Ritual oder Prayer Book]. Vilnius: Bratskaya tipografiya Publ., 1621.

19. Fragmenty rannikh stoikov. T. III. Ch. 1. Khrisipp iz Sol. Eticheskie fragmenty [Fragments of the Early Stoics. Vol. III. Part 1. Chrisippus of Soli. Ethical Fragments], transl. by A.A. Stoliarov. Moscow: Greek-Latin Cabinet by Yu.A. Shichalin, 2007.

20. Cicero Marcus Tullius. Tuskulanskie besedy [Tusculan Disputations], transl. from Latin by M. Gasparov. Moscow: RIPOL klassik Publ., 2017.

21. Chistiakova M. Predvaritel'nyi svodnyi katalog tserkovnoslavyanskikh prolozhnykh tekstov [Preliminary Consolidated Catalogue of Church Slavonic Prologues]. Vol. 2. Vilnius: Institute of the Lithuanian Language Publ., 2016.

22. Argell B. Consolation of Literature as Rhetorical Tradition: Issues and Examples. LIR. Journal. 2015. N 4. P. 10–35.

23. Augustinus Aurelius. De cura pro mortuis gerenda. Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Latina, J.-P. Migne (ed.). T. 40. Paris: J.-P. Migne, 1841. Col. 591–610.

24. Boys-Stones G. The “Consolatio ad Apollonium”: Therapy for the Dead. Greek and Roman Consolations: Eight Studies of a Tradition and its Afterlife, H. Baltussen (ed.). Swansla: Classical Press of Wales, 2013. P. 123–138.

25. Carrdus A. “Thränen=Tüchlein für christliche Eltern”: Consolation Books for bereaved Parents in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Germany. German Life and Letters. New Series. 1996. Vol. 49, N 1. P. 1–17.

26. Consolatio. The Classical Tradition, A. Grafton, G.W. Most, S. Settis (eds.). Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard UP, 2010. P. 234–236.

27. Ennodius Ticinensis. Epistola 1. Armenio Consolatoriam. Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Latina, J.-P. Migne (ed.). T. 63. Paris: J.-P. Migne, 1847. Col. 35–37.

28. Evaristus M. The Consolations of Death in Ancient Greek Literature. Washington: National Capital Press, 1917.

29. Grözinger A. Consolatio. Historisches Wörterbuch der Rhetorik, von G. Ueding (ed.). Bd. 2. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1994. Sp. 367–373.

30. van Hemert A. Paracleseon sive consolationum afflictarum mentium libri III. Antwerpen: I. Bellerus, 1560.

31. Hieronymus Stridonensis. Ad Paulam super obitu Blaesillae filiae. Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Latina, J.-P. Migne (ed.). T. 22. Paris: J.-P. Migne, 1859. Col. 465–473.

32. Hieronymus Stridonensis. Ad Tyrasium super morte filiae suae consolatoria. Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Latina, J.-P. Migne (ed.). T. 30. Paris: J.-P. Migne, 1846. Col. 278–282.

33. Holkoth R. In Librum Sapientiae Regis Salomonis Praelectiones CCXIII. Basel: [S. Henricpetri], 1586.

34. Isidorus Hispalensis. Sententiae. Patrologiae cursus completes. Series Latina, J.-P. Migne (ed.). T. 83. Paris: J.-P. Migne, 1850. Col. 537–738.

35. Kassel R. Untersuchungen zur griechischen und römischen Konsolationsliteratur. München: C.H. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1958.

36. Korzo M.A. Holcot anonimowy, czyli dziedzictwo Roberta Holcota OP (ok. 1290–1349) w XVII-wiecznym piśmiennictwie prawosławnym. Dwa przykłady. Przegląd Tomistyczny. 2020. Vol. XXVI. S. 245–259.

37. Leppin V. Preparing for Death. From the Late Medieval ars moriendi to the Lutheran Funeral Sermon. Preparing for Death, Remembering the Dead, T. Rasmussen, J. Øygarden Flæten (eds.), Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015. P. 9–23.

38. Linton A. Poetry and Parental Bereavement in Early Modern Lutheran Germany. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008.

39. de Loarte G. Der geistliche Hertzentröster. München: A. Berg, 1604.

40. Małunowiczówna L. Konsolacyjny list grecki. Eos. Commentarii Societatis Philologae Polonorum. 1964. Vol. 54. N 2. P. 245–264.

41. Małunowiczówna L. Pokłosie konsolacyjnej literatury łacińskiej. Roczniki Humanistyczne. 1966. Vol. XIV. N 3. S. 97–107.

42. Małunowiczówna L. Stare i nowe w greckiej konsolacji chrześcijańskiej. Roczniki Humanistyczne. 1971. Vol. XIX. N 3. S. 73–84.

43. McClure G.W. Sorrow and Consolation in Italian Humanism. Princeton (New Jersey): Princeton UP, 2016.

44. Mitchell J.F. Consolatory Letters in Basil and Gregory Nazianzen. Hermes. 1968. Vol. 96. P. 299–318.

45. Moore C.N. Praeparatio ad Mortem. Das Buch bei Vorbereitung und Begleitung des Sterbens im protestantischen Deutschland des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts. Pietismus und Neuzeit. 1993. Bd. 19. S. 9–18.

46. Moos P. von. Consolatio. Studien zur Mittellateinischen Trostliteratur über den Tod und zum Problem der christlichen Trauer. Bd. I. München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1971.

47. Moos P. von. Die Trostschrift des Vinzenz von Beauvais für Ludwig IX. (Vorstudie zur Motiv- und Gattungsgeschichte der consolatio). Mittellateinisches Jahrbuch. 1967. N 6. S. 173–218.

48. Oratio funebris: Die katholische Leichenpredigt der frühen Neuzeit, B. Boge, R.G. Bogner (eds.). Amsterdam, 1999.

49. Reinis A. Reforming the Art of Dying. The ars moriendi in the German Reformation (1519–1528). Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007.

50. Schaeben U. Trauer im humanistischen Dialog. Das Trostgespräch des Giannozzo Manetti und seine Quellen. München; Leipzig: K.G. Saur, 2002.

51. Scourfield J.H.D. Towards a Genre of Consolation. Greek and Roman Consolations: Eight Studies of a Tradition and its Afterlife, H. Baltussen (ed.). Swansla: Classical Press of Wales, 2013. P. 1–36.

52. Stobaeus J. Sententiae ex Thesauris Graecorum delectae. Lyon: P. Frellon, 1609.

53. Ulenberg K. Trost Buch für die Kranken und Sterbenden. Köln: G. Calenius, A. Quentel, 1590.