The curse on self-murder
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The curse on self-murder
（Suicide in the Middle Ages / by Alexander Murray, v. 2）
Oxford University Press, 2011, c2000
- : pbk
Available at 2 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [599]-601) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
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.
Table of Contents
- PRACTICE
- 1. The Body
- 2. The Property
- THEORY: THE WRITTEN INHERITANCE
- 3. Religion
- 4. Philosophy
- 5. Law
- THEORY: THE MEDIEVAL CONTRIBUTION
- 6. Theology: The Age of Reticence
- 7. Theology: Suicide Discovered
- 8. Canonists and Jurists
- 9. Occasional Theology
- 10. Judas
- 11. The Sin of Despair
- THE ROOTS OF TABOO: POLLUTION AND THE COMMUNITY
- 12. Intention without Act
- 13. Act without Intention
- 14. The Community as Judge
- THE ROOTS OF TABOO: THE UNWRITTEN INHERITANCE
- 15. The Curse in Antiquity
- 16. The Curse in Other Cultures
by "Nielsen BookData"