Fig. 404.—Death of St. Benedict, surrounded by his monks, in his Abbey of Monte Cassino, on the 21st of March, 542.—The “Légende Dorée” says, “At the moment of his death, one of the monks who had remained in his cell saw him ascend to heaven; and St. Maur, his disciple in France at the time, also saw what appeared to be a street, hung with rich tapestry and brilliantly lighted, which reached from St. Benedict’s cell to heaven. A man of majestic appearance approached him and said, ‘Behold the road by which Benedict, the servant and friend of God, is travelling to the presence of the Divine Majesty.’” The artist has grouped the various incidents of this story into his painting.—Fresco by Spinelli d’Arezzo (1390), in the Church of San Miniato, near Florence.
At that period the kings of the Franks assisted in person at the obsequies of the kings and queens their predecessors. Thus, Childebert and Clotaire I. accompanied the body of their mother, Clotilde, from Tours, where she died, to the Church of St. Geneviève, in Paris, where she was buried. The four sons of Clotaire brought their father’s body from Compiègne to the Abbey of St. Médard de Soissons, where it was finally laid. Louis VI. followed on foot the body of his father, Philip I., from Melun, where he died, to St. Benoît-sur-Loire, where he was interred. Philip III. helped to carry his father’s bier from the Church of Notre-Dame, in Paris, to St. Denis. The three sons of King John—Charles V., Louis, Duke of Anjou, and Philip, Duke of Burgundy—followed their father’s body to the grave; but the fourth son, John, Duke of Berri, detained as hostage in England, was unable to take part in the ceremony. Henceforward, the kings of France gave up the custom of being present at the obsequies of their predecessors and of members of the royal family. The sons of Henry II., however, with the exception of the dauphin Francis, who merely sprinkled holy water over the corpse, followed their father to the grave.
Fig. 405.—The Christian professor on his death-bed—the priest is exhorting him; his disciples are praying for him; his wife is holding a flaming torch over his head in token of the resurrection. The dying man contemplates the image of Christ on the Cross, who died for the sins of mankind; the Holy Virgin, holding the Infant Jesus in her arms, implores pardon for the sinner, while evil spirits are searching in the professor’s works for some heresy which may ensure his damnation. Death is there.—Fac-simile of a Wood Engraving in the “Cogitatione della Morte,” by J. Savonarola; the Florence edition, in 4to (date unknown).
In former times, the kings of the third dynasty were present at the funerals even of their relations or friends. Joinville states that the bodies of several nobles who had been massacred in prison by the Saracens were given up to King Louis IX., who had them buried in the Church of St. John of Acre. Amongst the slain was Gautier de Brienne, whose cousin, Madame de Secte, discharged all the funeral expenses, while every knight who was present at the ceremony gave as an offering a taper and a silver denier. “The king,” says Du Tillet, “was present, and contributed a taper and a besant, which he took from the lady’s purse, out of his exceeding graciousness, for kings on funeral occasions always contributed money of their own, and not that of those who invited them.” Charles V. was present at the funeral of Jean de la Rivière, his chamberlain, in the Church of the Val des Ecoliers, Paris. Edward III. of England honoured with his presence the funeral of G. Mauny, a knight of Hainault, buried in the Carthusian monastery of London. After the sixteenth century, the sovereign merely went to sprinkle the body with holy water, but did not assist at the obsequies of great officers of his household, or of members of his family.
Funeral rites gave rise to a host of interesting and peculiar customs, which a want of space prevents us from enumerating and describing. Thus, in the southern provinces of France, it was the usage in former days to carry the dead to the place of burial upon their state-beds, which became the property of the officiating priest as a remuneration for his services.
In Paris, down to the reign of Louis XIV., it was the custom, when any personage of note died, for the “crier of the dead,” dressed in black, to go through the streets, ringing a bell and crying out, “Pray God for the dead!” This usage still exists in certain districts. Another custom, altogether of ecclesiastical origin, was that of inscribing the names of the dead upon placards, and so commending them to the prayers of the worshippers in the monasteries and churches. Upon some of these “rolls of the dead” (Fig. 407), composed of several sheets of parchment sewn together, new names were added to the old, and the good works of the deceased recorded thereon. These were the perpetual rolls. Orderic Vital, in his “Ecclesiastical History,” speaks of a long roll in the Monastery of St. Evroul, upon which were inscribed the names of monks, and of their fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters. This roll was laid upon the altar for the whole year, and only unfolded on the Jour des Morts (All Souls’ Day).
These annual rolls were sent each year from one religious house to another, to announce the names of those monks belonging to the same order who had died during the year. A separate roll was forwarded on the death of each monk, in order to obtain on his behalf the prayers of his brethren in Christ. A copy of the document was taken for each community, or perhaps the same was made to serve for all the abbeys in the diocese. The style was simple or pompous, according to the rank and position of the deceased.
