Funerary Customs Among the Nobility of Swedish-Era Estonia: Status Signifiers Displayed During Funeral Processions and Their Placement in Churches Cover Image

Funerary Customs Among the Nobility of Swedish-Era Estonia: Status Signifiers Displayed During Funeral Processions and Their Placement in Churches
Funerary Customs Among the Nobility of Swedish-Era Estonia: Status Signifiers Displayed During Funeral Processions and Their Placement in Churches

Author(s): Veikko Varik
Subject(s): Cultural history, Modern Age, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
Published by: Teaduste Akadeemia Kirjastus
Keywords: Pompa funebris; Kürasirer Reuter; Wappen-epitaph; armorial bearings; funeral armour; funerary hatchment; funeral flag; Swedish-era Estonia

Summary/Abstract: Most of the Swedish period church interiors in Estonia have lost a significant part of their former richness of detail over the past three hundred years. Whether the cause is wars or natural disasters. Therefore, relatively little secular memorabilia has been studied so far. This article tries to give an overview of this type of object on the basis of archival material, old photographs and individual surviving objects. The fleeting insight into the funeral customs associated with the use of these objects at funerals showed that Estonia was connected to the Swedish-Finnish cultural space and the cultural diffusion took place between these two regions. At the same time, the differences between the Lutheran and other denominations in the use of secular memorabilia stand out clearly.

  • Issue Year: 28/2022
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 24-62
  • Page Count: 39
  • Language: English