University of Pittsburgh Library System

In recent history, the concept of death and dying has become an extremely uncomfortable topic of discussion for a majority of the population, however, in the past such discomfort was not nearly as commonplace. Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the subject of death was unavoidable, and to the faithful all across Europe, having a proper death described by the rules of the Christian faith was of utmost importance. With everyone hoping to one day go to Heaven, manuscripts such as the Cologne Office of the Dead were created, intended to guide monks and other religious figures in prayer for the deceased and set them on route to their preferred afterlife. Originally created in 1487 and used for services until 1802, the Office of the Dead utilized in this project gives us a glimpse into how death and mortality was viewed by the most faithful of European society. In my research, I examined how focusing on the way in which such a manuscript was created can craft a narrative for modern day scholars to understand that death was by no means a taboo subject in earlier history. Like many manuscripts, the Cologne Office of the Dead is written entirely in Latin, and to combat this challenge, I took to looking at details such as the materials and methods used to create it, as well as the clear evidence of handling as the main focal point of my project. In doing so, I aimed to paint a clearer picture of the importance that death and dying held in early European society, and shed light on a topic that is often avoided in the modern era.