©2011 STEVEN M. KAWCZAK ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BELIEFS AND APPROACHES TO DEATH AND DYING IN LATE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND A Dissertation Presented to The Graduate Faculty of The University of Akron In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Steven M. Kawczak December, 2011 BELIEFS AND APPROACHES TO DEATH AND DYING IN LATE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND Steven M. Kawczak Dissertation Approved: Accepted: ____________________________ ____________________________ Advisor Department Chair Michael F. Graham, Ph.D. Michael Sheng, Ph.D. ____________________________ ____________________________ Faculty Reader Dean of the College Michael Levin, Ph.D. Chand K. Midha, Ph.D. ____________________________ ____________________________ Faculty Reader Dean of the Graduate School Constance Bouchard, Ph.D. George R. Newkome, Ph.D. ____________________________ ____________________________ Faculty Reader Date Howard Ducharme, Ph.D. ____________________________ Faculty Reader Matthew Crawford, Ph.D. ii ABSTRACT This dissertation is about death and its relationship to religion in late seventeenth- century England. The primary argument is that while beliefs about death stemmed from the Reformation tradition, divergent religious reforms of Puritanism and Arminianism did not lead to differing approaches to death. People adapted religious ideas on general terms of Protestant Christianity and not specifically aligned with varying reform movements. This study links apologetics and sermons concerning spiritual death, physical death, and remedies for each to cultural practice through the lens of wills and graves to gauge religious influence. Readers are reminded of the origins of reformed thought, which is what seventeenth-century English theologians built their ideas upon. Religious debates of the day centered on the Puritan and Arminian divide, which contained significantly different ideas of soteriology, a key aspect of a good death in the English ars moriendi. Puritans and Arminians regarded each other as political and religious enemies, yet their theology and teachings reveal the same understanding to the end of life and afterlife. Interestingly, people approached death identifying their common faith as Christians, not divided into different religious groups. Individuals heeded preachers’ advice to recognize mortality and prepare for death in advance of the deathbed. Guidance from theologians emphasized hope and expectation of a blessed death through reliance on God and His promises. iii This dissertation contributes to narrowing a gap in the scholarship on late seventeenth-century English history and is also a work in thanatology that assesses how humanity has dealt with death. This research especially considers wills as a primary source to evaluate how society faced mortality and Christian teachings shaped conventional thought. The evidence also reveals an increasing value placed on family. Finally, this dissertation is a reminder that assessing the personal topic of death and dying is a unique way to increase understanding of human nature as death is approached. This is a study of the humanities that deals with life’s meaning, mortality, identity and cultural change at one of the most crucial of the life cycles - death. iv DEDICATION For my dearly loved ones Bettina, Ethan, Elena, Bobbie Marie and Gili v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Researching and writing this dissertation has been quite an undertaking. It is something I never really could have been prepared for and felt, frankly, enervated at many points along the way. The reason I was able to get through it has been largely due to the help and encouragement from many around me. While I take full responsibility for the product, it is from them that focus and ideas came. I am deeply grateful for each of them. In particular, I acknowledge the support and guidance of my faculty mentor Dr. Michael Graham. Dr. Graham offered words of encouragement at just the right times during particularly taxing moments in my graduate career. His expertise in things early modern and religious was ever-helpful and inspiring, while his gift of communication set a bar for which I hope to one day get even slightly close to. The direction, feedback and perspective Dr. Graham offered throughout this project were the direct reason for which it has been completed. I am also thankful for the support of the broader committee that remained committed to this project. Dr. Constance Bouchard offered insightful guidance and was especially supportive throughout this process, for which I am very appreciative. Drs. Michael Levin and Matthew Crawford were encouraging and thorough in their feedback, which challenged me well and helped sharpen the narrative as it unfolded. Dr. Howard Ducharme offered early input that helped me critically think through what was really going on as people prepared for death. vi This research was able to be completed in large part from the generous support of the Graduate Student Government Dissertation Grant Program funded by the Graduate School. The School’s funding enabled me to access much needed archives and kept the project moving forward at a good pace. The staff at the British Library and London Metropolitan Archives were most welcoming of a rain-soaked, unsure traveler and offered excellent tips to maximize my research time. Family is a lot of things, and family saw me though this to the end. They acted interested in my endeavors even when they seemed a bit out there, like with my constant pondering over what early modern English interpretations of irresistible grace or freely accepted soteriological solutions were, whether or not they really impacted death, and what this all means to us now. My parents Paul and Natasha and Aunt Tamara, in particular, kept me on task as this unfolded, while their love was ever-present. They will never know how much it meant. My many other siblings, in-laws and friends gave support in just the right ways at just the right times. Finally, my dear love Bettina and amazing children Ethan, Elena, Bobbie Marie and Gili demonstrated unbelievable patience, exhibited selfless encouragement and offered never-ending smiles and pats on the back along the way. They have been my motivation and inspiration. Studying death has given me a good, regular reality check of how wonderful it is to live life with them. They are treasured and mean the world to me. I am ever thankful to God for blessing me with them. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS...............................................................ix LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................x ABBREVIATIONS.........................................................................................................xi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION: OVERVIEW, HISTORIOGRAPHY, BACKGROUND AND OUTLINE.......................................................................................................................1 II. THEOLOGY AND DEATH IN THE EARLY REFORMATION TRADITION....58 III. BELIEFS ABOUT DEATH IN LATE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND....................................................................................................................93 IV. TEACHINGS ABOUT THE GOOD DEATH IN LATE SEVENTEENTH- CENTURY ENGLAND................................................................................................134 V. WILLS AND LAST TESTAMENTS: APPROACHING DEATH – PROPER PREPARATION AND HOPEFUL EXPECTATION..................................................179 VI. FUNERALS AND BURIALS...............................................................................250 VII. CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................279 APPENDIX: SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF SELECT SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ENGLISH THEOLOGIANS.......................................295 BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................................................308 viii LIST OF FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Cover Illustration from: Death’s Uncontrollable Summons (1685) ................135 2. Alice Ryman Last Will and Testament (1688) ..................................................181 3. Last Will and Testament in Testator’s Own Writing.........................................200 4. Testators – Nice Signatures................................................................................201 5. Testators – Scribble Signatures..........................................................................202 6. Testators – Marks as Signatures.........................................................................204 7. John Bunyan’s Grave – Image #1......................................................................251 8. Crumms Of Comfort by Michael Spark (1652) .................................................261 9. Bunhill Fields.....................................................................................................265 10. John Owen’s Grave..........................................................................................267 11. John Bunyan’s Grave – Image #2....................................................................270 12. John Bunyan’s Grave – Image #3....................................................................271 13. Thomas Rosewell’s Grave – Image #1............................................................272 14. Thomas Rosewell’s Grave – Image #2............................................................273