Buchholz, W. Religion und Gesellschaft in deutschen Landen im 15. und frühen 16. Jahrhundert. Mentalität und Bewusstseinshorizont, in: Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social History and Culture. 2017. Vol. 3(2). P. 51–74.
Werner Buchholz, д. и. н., профессор, университет Грайфсвальда (17489, Germany, Greifswald, Domstraße 11)
buchholz@uni-greifswald.de
Language: Deutsch
The parish, the pilgrimage and atonement were the three pillars of late medieval religious practice. The parish took care of the faithful in their everyday lives, which were inextricably linked their work on the land. During pilgrimages, the parish made sure that pilgrims fulfilled the necessary conditions. Atonement had two main aims: on the one hand, acts of atonement, amongst which a pilgrimage was considered to carry significant weight, were intended to ensure salvation for a person who suffered a sudden death, unprepared for the hereafter, and on the other hand atonement was intended to provide material security for the murdered person’s family. A murderer who killed a father and breadwinner, for example, had to replace what he had taken from a family. All three phenomena were strongly influenced by the veneration of saints. With the Reformation a fundamental change occurred here. The veneration of saints was abolished and with it the pilgrimage and the practice of atonement also disappeared. The relationship of the pastor with the woman in his household was legalized; she became the pastor’s honored wife. The pastor and his family were given the task of serving as a model and ideal example of Protestant family life.The veneration of saints ceased. With that pilgrimages and atonement also came to an end.
Key Words: parish, pilgrimage, atonement, saints, death, conditions, household, Reformation