Consecratio Cymiterii: The Ritual Blessings of Cemeteries in the Central Middle Ages

This article studies the Latin west’s liturgical tradition for the consecration of cemeteries and burial places, using traditional textual analysis combined with selective use of anthropological theory of ritual. The earliest texts of consecration are simple prayers found in insular sources, which later Frankish and Roman authors borrowed to create increasingly complex rituals found in the major pontificals composed from the tenth to the late thirteenth century. These benedictions transformed the space of the cemetery into a nexus where the divine, the living and the dead could commune. By means of prayers, songs, gestures and objects, such rituals established a sacred, separate space wherein the Christian community could access the power of the divine, ground its existence within the context of the sacred stories which defined its history and identity, and provide a safe place of rest for the departed members of the community.