Speaking with the Dead in Early America

by Erik R. Seeman

Book Overview

In late medieval Catholicism, mourners employed an array of practices to maintain connection with the deceased--most crucially, the belief in purgatory, a middle place between heaven and hell where souls could be helped by the actions of the living. In the early sixteenth century, the Reformation abolished purgatory, as its leaders did not want attention to the dead diminishing people's devotion to God. But while the Reformation was supposed to...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 081222518X
• ISBN13: 9780812225181
• Release Date: March 2022
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"