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Ars Moriendi: Coping with death in the Late Middle Ages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2015

Fernando Espi Forcén  and
Carlos Espi Forcén
Fernando Espi Forcén*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
Carlos Espi Forcén
Affiliation:
Department of Art History, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Fernando Espi Forcén, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 425 East 76th Street, Apartment 4B, New York, New York 10021. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Objective:

The Ars moriendi was a book written in the early 15th century with the goal of assisting friars in their work of helping the dying. The aim of our study was to review the current literature on the Ars Moriendi concerning the field of medicine, to analyze the psychological mechanisms for coping with death anxiety within Ars Moriendi, and to explore parallels between the strategies used in the medieval book and in contemporary literature about death and dying.

Method:

A review of literature using Pubmed, EMBASE, JSTOR, Project MUSE, and the New York Public Library was undertaken first. The primary source was then interpreted from a medical/psychological point of view.

Results:

Seven articles were selected by literature review. These works comment on the importance of the Ars Moriendi in its historical context and explore the possibility of retrieving the principles of the text in contemporary society. The original text of Ars Moriendi, the primary source, presents death as a relief from the sufferings of earthly life and a gateway to eternal glory. According to the author, a good death implied the triumph over five demonic temptations in agonizing people: a lack of faith, despair, impatience, pride and greed.

Significance of Results:

Analyzed from a modern psychiatric perspective, the Ars Moriendi offers descriptions of behavioral manifestations compatible with delirium, mood and anxiety disorders that characterize people with terminal illnesses. Moreover, we also explored parallels between the strategies used to cope with death anxiety in the Late Middle Ages and in contemporary society.

Keywords

Death and dyingDeath anxietyReligionMiddle AgesMedieval artMedieval literatureSpiritualism
Type
Review Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 14 , Issue 5 , October 2016 , pp. 553 - 560
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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