Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

Get access

Funeral sermon
(1,626 words)

1. Typical contents, societal role

The graveside speech, or funeral sermon (Lat. oratio funebris, German Leichenpredigt, French sermon funèbre), was a firmly established component of European burial culture discernible as far back as pre-Christian Greco-Roman antiquity. In the 16th century, the practice developed all over the Christian world of printing these sermons and distributing them to the survivors, relatives, and friends of the …

Cite this page
Düselder, Heike and Winkler, Eberhard, “Funeral sermon”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_023311>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180208



▲   Back to top   ▲