The “geography” of life after death represented one of the major areas of theological dispute in the Reformation. Particular concerns included the fate of the souls of the dead and the nature of the relationship between the dead and the living (cf. Eschatology). Belief in ghosts was a point that distinguished Protestants from Catholics almost as clearly as belief in the Mass or the primacy of the Pope (Faith).

In the decades running up to the Reformation, there was general agreement regarding the dead and “their” ghosts. Although the dead could not physicall…