Death in the Middle Ages. Battles with Demons, Mult-Eyed Angels, and Dances of the Dead

What was death for a Christian in Europe somewhere in the 15th century? Not just a scattering into oblivion — as it is for many of us today. Once it was a liberation from earthly burdens. Then — a "crisis", a personal Judgment. Invariably — the most important event in life. And even a phenomenon of Truth.

The new book by historian and medievalist Igor Luzhetsky is an intriguing tale about the European tradition of understanding death: from Antiquity, without which the Middle Ages cannot be comprehended, to the Middle Ages themselves — and to our days. It is a story of theologians, charnel houses and cemeteries, tomb sculptures, angels, and demons reflecting on the soul. A history of the "art of dying" — and of how to look death in the face, remembering God.

What distinguishes mere death, the death of the soul, and death for sin? Can death be a "good"? How did the valley of Gehenna near Jerusalem become hell? How did Christians prepare for death and what supposedly happened to them at the moment of dying? And why is the death of each person a reflection of the Passion of Christ?

You will learn how death was understood in ancient, Jewish, and Christian traditions, how people envisioned the soul and the process of dying — and how they worried, but did not lose heart in the presence of the immense void that death creates.


- For all who are fascinated by the history of Antiquity and medieval Europe.
- For those interested in the evolution of human attitudes towards death.
- For those interested in culture in its unusual aspects.