Dying bodies: Bringing mortality home after the Reformation and the Great Transition

Two enormous shifts in history shape Western culture as we know it today: the Protestant Reformation and what historical theologian Ephraim Radner names the "Great Transition," the health transition that brought modernity its unprecedented low mortality rates and lengthened lifespans. This...

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Bibliographic Details
Subtitles:"Special Issue: Corpses and their material extensions in Protestantism"
Main Author: Moolman, Kira (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Equinox Publishing 2020
In: Body and religion
Year: 2020, Volume: 4, Issue: 2, Pages: 225-244
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B London / Protestantism / Health system / Reform / Funeral / History 1837-1901
IxTheo Classification:CB Christian life; spirituality
CF Christianity and Science
CH Christianity and Society
KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history
KBF British Isles
KDD Protestant Church
NCH Medical ethics
RA Practical theology
Further subjects:B Protestant Reformation
B health transition
B Death
B Children
B Victorian London
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Description
Summary:Two enormous shifts in history shape Western culture as we know it today: the Protestant Reformation and what historical theologian Ephraim Radner names the "Great Transition," the health transition that brought modernity its unprecedented low mortality rates and lengthened lifespans. This article explores one geographical location and one specific time - Victorian London - to argue that the lingering effects of the Protestant Reformation and the growing impact of the Great Transition as this relates to the practices and rituals around the dead, particularly the dead child, were partly responsible for the reforms around the dead child in the home. Lydia Murdoch’s account of the rise of the mortuary movement, and her description of the discrimination against Irish Catholics by Protestant elites, forms the foundation for my argument. Rather than limiting the narrative to one of religious and class prejudice, I claim that religious motivation, and not only religious prejudice, worked with growing health reforms in order to bring about these historical shifts.
ISSN:2057-5831
Contains:Enthalten in: Body and religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/bar.18252