Like in the last post, death in the middle ages was everywhere. There was no way to shush it or ignore it. Today we pursue projects that allow us to forget about death until someone we care about dies, or until we face death ourselves. Because of this we are more secular, less focused on what is going to happen to us after we die. In the middle ages, heaven was all there was to hope for, a guaranteed escape from a hell they lived in every day. Therefore, it makes sense that they would spend much more time focused on the afterlife, and symbols of this are integrated into every part of the middle ages as can be seen in movies, literature, and art work.
I believe that it's about our about humans changing and evolving. Through our experience, what our leaders decide for us. Someday down the road in our future things will be completely different than they are today. Some professor will be asking another gerneration the same question. How did they get there and we today influnced them. But to walk a mile in those times based on coming from this time period makes it more complicated to do so. Being in that time era it's natural it's all they know. Like us they struggled with the basics to grow up, find love, maybe have children, a good life and die a peaceful death. So not much has changed in that way to me. The dynamics are different because the times are different. And to me, the main difference is the cultura intergrations we have in the modern Western view. It opens up to us new ways of thinking beliefs and most of all other options. Where back then you were killed for going against the church and or its leaders. Just my thoughts on this I guess.
I think that one of the main differences between the medieval view of death and the modern Western view of death is found in one of the basic differences between the two eras: the focus and orientation of human activity. In the Middle Ages, life was focused on working as a part of God's plan, no matter how low you were on the socio-economic ladder. Thus, death was a part of God's plan and not really about the individual person. By contrast, in the modern West, life is focused almost solely on the individual, and thus death is the end of a person's life and is an entirely individually-focused event/process.
Like in the last post, death in the middle ages was everywhere. There was no way to shush it or ignore it. Today we pursue projects that allow us to forget about death until someone we care about dies, or until we face death ourselves. Because of this we are more secular, less focused on what is going to happen to us after we die. In the middle ages, heaven was all there was to hope for, a guaranteed escape from a hell they lived in every day. Therefore, it makes sense that they would spend much more time focused on the afterlife, and symbols of this are integrated into every part of the middle ages as can be seen in movies, literature, and art work.
ReplyDeleteHello Class,
ReplyDeleteI believe that it's about our about humans changing and evolving. Through our experience, what our leaders decide for us. Someday down the road in our future things will be completely different than they are today. Some professor will be asking another gerneration the same question. How did they get there and we today influnced them. But to walk a mile in those times based on coming from this time period makes it more complicated to do so. Being in that time era it's natural it's all they know. Like us they struggled with the basics to grow up, find love, maybe have children, a good life and die a peaceful death. So not much has changed in that way to me. The dynamics are different because the times are different. And to me, the main difference is the cultura intergrations we have in the modern Western view. It opens up to us new ways of thinking beliefs and most of all other options. Where back then you were killed for going against the church and or its leaders. Just my thoughts on this I guess.
Irene
I think that one of the main differences between the medieval view of death and the modern Western view of death is found in one of the basic differences between the two eras: the focus and orientation of human activity. In the Middle Ages, life was focused on working as a part of God's plan, no matter how low you were on the socio-economic ladder. Thus, death was a part of God's plan and not really about the individual person. By contrast, in the modern West, life is focused almost solely on the individual, and thus death is the end of a person's life and is an entirely individually-focused event/process.
ReplyDelete