Aging and Old Age in Medieval Society and the Transition of Modernity

Abstract

This article addresses the way that old age was represented within medieval European society and how that changed as the Middle Ages evolved into modernity. I argue that medieval society drew heavily upon the classical theme of the “ages of life,” embellishing them with a more explicit moral framework. Within this remoralized lifecourse, old age played a central part—whether framed as the end of life's journey toward wisdom and redemption, or as the eventual demise of all worldly success. As the economic and moral order of medieval society declined in the face of the new intellectual currents of the Renaissance and the rising commercialization of sixteenth century Europe, the moral identity of old age was gradually replaced with a social identity framed around lack and neediness.