Growing Old In The Middle Ages: 'winter Clothes Us In Shadow And Pain'

GROWING OLD IN THE MIDDLE AGES GROWING OLD IN THE MIDDLE AGES ‘Winter clothes us in shadow and pain’ Shulamith Shahar Translated from the Hebrew by Yael Lotan London and New York First published in Hebrew by Dvir Publishing House, Tel-Aviv, in 1995. English edition first published 1997 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1997 Shulamith Shahar All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Shahar, Shulamith. [Horef ha-‘oteh otanu. English] Growing old in the Middle Ages: “winter clothes us in shadow and pain”/Shulamith Shahar. Translated from the Hebrew. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Aged—Europe—History. 2. Aging—Social aspects—Europe— History. 3. Social history—Medieval, 500–1500. I. Title. HQ1064.E8S5313 1996 96–4587 305.26’094–dc20 CIP ISBN 0-203-21110-3 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-21122-7 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-14126-5 (Print Edition) To my sister and brother-in-law, Naomi and Meir Zorea, with love The truth is that the winter season treats us very differently from the trees, for winter lightens the trees, unclothing and stripping them of leaves, but to us old men winter brings burdens and clothes us in shadow and pain. Leon Battista Alberti, The Book of the Family If heaven had feelings, it too would grow old. Li He (791–817 AD), ‘Song of the Bronze Immortal Taking Leave of Han’ The real difference between God and human beings, he thought, was that God cannot stand continuance. No sooner has He created a season or a year, or a time of the day, than He wishes for something quite different, and sweeps it all away. No sooner was one a young man, and happy at that, than the nature of things would rush one into marriage, martyrdom or old age. Isak Dinesen, The Monkey Old men were ever fated The flight of childhood Hopeless to bewail. Adalberon of Laon (c. 1030), ‘Poem to King Robert’ Old age is final; Youth is God’s gift. Eustache Deschamps (14th century), ‘Ballad on Old Age’ You longed to pass through its gate, you desired to reach it, you feared you might not attain it, but once arrived—you began to moan. Everyone wants to reach old age, but none wants to be old. Bernardino of Siena (Early 15th century), ‘Sermon on the Trials and Tribulations of Man’s Life, Particularly on Old Age’ ‘Whoever does not wish to die young, must needs grow old.’ This is one of those worn platitudes which combine absurdity with commonsense. Jean Améry (1968), On Growing Old CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: On the history of old age in Medieval Europe 1 1 WHO WERE THE OLD IN THE MIDDLE AGES? 12 2 THE OLD BODY 36 3 TRANSCENDING AGE, TRANSCENDING THE BODY 60 4 WHO AND WHAT IS AN OLD MAN, AND HOW HE SHOULD CONDUCT HIMSELF 70 5 ‘HONOUR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER’ 88 6 CHURCHMEN IN THEIR OLD AGE 98 7 OLD AGE IN