Een scone leeringe om salich te Sterven - een middelNederlandse ars moriendi tussen letterkunde en didactiek

Abstract

The aim of this research is to show that the Middle Dutch text Een scone leerinoe om salich te sterven is an example of an Ars moriendi that combines features of both the typical didactic Speculum-tradition and literary texts in which the theme of death and the attitude towards it play an important role. This challenges the existing viewpoints concerning the place of the Ars moriendi in literature which have either viewed it in isolation of literary texts or as part of the Speculum-tradition. Special attention has been paid to the fact that one cannot easily distinguish between literary and didactic traditions in Medieval literature. The research further shows the relevance of the Ars moriendi for the interpretation of Dutch Medieval morality plays. (Abbreviation abstract)