IMC 2024: Sessions
Session 535: Good Friday Ceremonies of the Burial of Christ before and after 1570
Tuesday 2 July 2024, 09:00-10:30
| Organiser: | Christophe Chaguinian, World Languages, Literatures & Cultures, University of North Texas |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Cora Dietl, Institut für Germanistik, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen |
| Paper 535-a | The Survival of the Depositio after Its Suppression in 1570 (Language: English) Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Lay Piety, Liturgy and Religious Life |
| Paper 535-b | Burying the Dead Christ in Medieval Denmark: Sculptures and Devotions (Language: English) Index terms: Architecture - Religious, Art History - Sculpture, Liturgy and Religious Life |
| Paper 535-c | A Longstanding Tradition?: Medieval Theatricalised Religious Ceremonies in the Early Modern Period (Language: English) Index terms: Art History - Sculpture, Liturgy, Performance Arts - General and Religious Life |
| Abstract | During the Middle Ages many churches throughout Europe—as early as the 10th c.—reenacted the burial of Christ by placing a cross or a host into a “sepulcher” in a ceremony called Depositio. In the later Middle Ages, as a result of the development of Christocentric devotion, some churches replaced the cross/host with a gisant of the dead Christ or with an articulated Christ that was removed from a crucifix. The Depositio was widespread but never became a universal ceremony. The variegated medieval liturgy was replaced after the Council of Trent (1545-63) by a rite modeled on the Roman liturgy. This uniformization resulted in the suppression of many ceremonies—among which the Depositio—that were not practiced in the bishopric of Rome. Although the clergy was instructed to strictly follow the Missale Romanum, because of their attachment to this ancient ceremony, some churches continued to perform the Depositio. However, whenever this was brought to the attention of the authorities, the recalcitrant clergy was reprimanded and ordered to get rid of it. Overall, by the 18th c. the ceremony had disappeared almost everywhere. In this session, Chaguinian will discuss the fate of the Depositio after 1570, while Wangsgaard Jurgensen will present the ceremony in medieval Denmark and Kopania will consider its survival into the Early Modern period. |