Fear of death is a part of human existence that has been, and always will be, a part of our lives. We spend so much time throughout our existence emphasizing things such as safety, health/medicine, spirituality etc. that in a way it seems as if we’re living to die. My own morbid take on things, I suppose. Anyway, for this post I want to take a look at the taboo people place around the dead themselves; specifically, I am going to talk a bit about the concept of mediaeval “corpse roads”. People certainly think up some bizarre things when contemplating death!
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| A fairly boring image of a British corpse road |
The origin of the corpse road (church way, burial line, coffin line etc.) coincides with the spread of Christianity across Europe in the late mediaeval period. The need for pathways being built between remote villages and larger city centres arose due to special permissions needed to complete a proper Christian burial. Parishioners had the lovely duty of transporting corpses from an isolated town through these segregated pathways to the larger city where the body was to be buried.
To add to this creepy concept of a road built exclusively for corpse transport, the parishioner usually had to carry the body for the entire distance unless the deceased’s family was wealthy enough to provide him with a carriage. Fun times, 1500 style.1
Where this becomes even more interesting is with the absolutely crazy – and quite unchristian I might add – tales people would make up about these pathways. Here are a few popular myths:
1. Corpse roads became equated with “spirit paths,” meaning that the spirits of the dead travelled up and down the paths, and could be encountered as one ventured through them.1
2. “Corpse candles” are characterized by a blue light seen to travel down church ways between the house of the deceased and the cemetery and back again.2
3. Related, “corpse fires” are a phenomenon thought to occur right before a death occurred. Lights would rise above the ground of a graveyard where a burial was to take place in the near future; creepy, no?2
Interestingly, many of the spiritual connections made with these very religious, Christian pathways drew from Pagan folklore and mythology.3 It may seem strange that such a serious practice was given so many magical qualities during a time when the Catholic Church was fighting reformation through inquisition across the Holy Roman Empire, but as mortal beings, making meaning out of death seems to come naturally.
A final tidbit that I learned about corpse roads is how prominent they were across Europe – though particularly in Britain. In Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the imp, Puck makes reference to these paths and their dual purpose as spirit paths.3 I just thought it was interesting how much of an impact these paths had on society culturally and religiously! Here is Puck’s passage:
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| Artist's depiction of Puck of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" |
“Now it is that time of night,
That the graves all gaping wide,
Every one lets forth his sprite,
In the church-way paths to glide”
That the graves all gaping wide,
Every one lets forth his sprite,
In the church-way paths to glide”
I love finding things like this in literature; it amazes me how humans are able to transcend and make relevant ancient folklore and ideas in contemporary times!
References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpse_road
2. http://corpse-road.co.tv/
3. http://www.pagancouncil.co.za/node/227
Pictures
1. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/%22Corpse_road%22_-_geograph.org.uk_-_591702.jpg
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