Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Cult of the Dead in Late Medieval Roman Catholicism

The eye-opening article I've linked below was brought to my attention by Steve Hays. The article provides some truly astonishing details of, in particular, the Spanish fascination with the cult of the dead during the reign of Philip II (king from January 16, 1556 – September 13, 1598).(link to article)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

“Neither are the souls of the pious dead separated from the Church which even now is the kingdom of Christ. Otherwise there would be no remembrance of them at the altar of God in the communication of the Body of Christ.” - Augustine

Turretinfan said...

It is one thing to remember the dead, and it is quite another to engage in a full-blown cult of the dead.

Even if we will say that Augustine's remembrances of the dead went too far (and perhaps it did), comparing Augustine with Philip II would be like comparing someone with a common cold to someone who had been bitten by a zombie.

louis said...

Zombie bites are naaaasty!

Craig French said...

I think Philip II would offer an interesting perspective re: The Tell-Tale Heart.