oa Remembering the Dead
Collective Memory and Commemoration in Late Medieval Livonia
Abstract
Medieval memoria - the commemoration of the dead - was both a form of collective memory and a social practice present in every sphere of life. It shaped identities and constituted groups, and thus the study of commemorative practices can tell us a great deal about medieval communities. This study shows the importance of memoria as a form of collective memory for different groups and institutions: city government and guilds, the Teutonic Order, bishops and cathedral chapters, and monastic communities, in late medieval Livonia (present-day Latvia and Estonia).
