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Suicide in the Middle Ages: Volume 2: The Curse on Self-Murder
Full title: | Suicide in the Middle Ages: Volume 2: The Curse on Self-Murder |
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ISBN: | 9780199553181 |
ISBN 10: | 0199553181 |
Authors: | Murray, Alexander |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Edition: | 1 |
Num. pages: | 662 |
Binding: | Paperback |
Language: | en |
Published on: | 2011 |
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Synopsis
A group of men dig a tunnel under the threshold of a house. Then they go and fetch a heavy, sagging object from inside the house, pull it out through the tunnel, and put it on a cow-hide to be dragged off and thrown into the offal-pit. Why should the corpse of a suicide - for that is what it is - have earned this unusual treatment?
In The Curse on Self-Murder, Alexander Murray explores the origin of the condemnation of suicide, in a quest which leads along the most unexpected byways of medieval theology, law, mythology, and folklore -and, indeed, in some instances beyond them. At an epoch when there might be plenty of ostensible reasons for not wanting to live, the ways used to block the suicidal escape route give a unique perspective on medieval religion.