Death, salvation and the search for meaning

Christoph Spindler’s funeral sermon for Herbard von Auersperg and noble ethos during the confessional era

Abstract

The article deals with the understanding of death in the early Modern Period, especially in the so-called confessional era (1550–1650), which was marked by a close relationship between religion and politics. The primary source for the article is a funeral sermon for Herbard von Auersperg, which was written and read by Christoph Spindler and for which we can assume that it had a great influence on contemporary nobility. This conclusion also points to the fact that the funeral sermon was printed and perhaps even used by Johann Weikhard von Valvasor as the source for his Glory of the Duchy of Carniola. Even though the sermon follows many elements of medieval chivalric culture, it differs from earlier works like oratio funebris of Johannes Roth for Count Ulrich of Cilli or totenklage of Peter Suchenwirt in a greater emphasis on didactics and a more systematic theological treatment of the theme. This was due as much to the difference in literary genre as to the period in which it was written.