Mort périnatale et d’un jeune enfant. Histoire des rites et des pratiques funéraires en Europe issus de l’expression affective et sociale du deuil. Première partie : de la Préhistoire aux Lumières

Abstract

AimInterdisciplinary research of emotional constants and the need for social support in grieving parents throughout the ages. MethodsState of the arts of historical publications from 1970 to 2017 on funeral rites for stillborn and young children. FindingsThere is some evidence of parents suffering through funeral rites for children in Prehistory, even for a foetus. Since Antiquity, many monuments, epitaphs and funeral furniture have been found for children. Although this is evidence of an economic and political power of patrician families, it is also evidence of parents’ grief suffering. If many infanticides do not seem to have been followed by guilt or grief, the funeral rites for the natural death of a predental child appear to have been very discreet. Parents were sensitive to the death of their child. This is confirmed for rich families but could not be proven for slaves or even the poor because of a lack of evidence. The Middle Ages in Europe are characterized by the hegemony of the Catholic Church which refused to baptize dead people. Stillborn children represented a problem for families because if they were not baptized by priests or midwives, their soul would stay in Hell for eternity. To reassure parents, the Catholic Church created a space between its two central places in its spiritual geography, Hell and Heaven. The Limbus puerorum was a virtual space for unbaptized children, but this was unsatisfactory for Middle Ages’ parents. With the creation of Purgatory, a place for redemption was possible for sinners but not for unbaptized children. The Catholic Church was literally compelled to accept these opportunities because of complaints from families whose suffering was double: parents had not only lost a child but this child would be doomed for eternity. Stillborn children have not kept out sins despite their short life as edited by Saint Augustin (5th century). The parents felt responsible and guilty for this shameful spiritual status. Redemption of sins could be obtained through “sanctuaires à répit”, special places where a child could have “rebirth” and be baptized until he died once again. ConclusionParents’ grief can be proven throughout all historic and even prehistoric times. Despite high child mortality rates, the death of a child was not a reality easily admitted by families. Social funeral rites were followed by parents for their moral support, but Catholic Church hegemony in Europe of the Middles Ages became controversial and especially with the development of Protestantism. Until the Enlightenment, the salvation of the soul of a stillborn child constituted a real stake for families. This situation was well understood by Catholic Church which used it to enlarge the baptized community as well maintain power on mourning families as well as tranquilizing parents who had lost a baptized child.