Castrum doloris

Castle of Grief (Latin: Castrum doloris) is a name for the structure and decorations sheltering or accompanying the catafalque or bier that signify the prestige or high estate of the deceased. A castrum doloris might feature an elaborate baldachin and would include candles, possibly flowers, and in most cases coats of arms, epitaphs and possibly allegorical statues. Many extensive castra doloris can be traced to the customs of 17th century and 18th century or even earlier, since Pope Sixtus V’s funeral arrangements included a castrum doloris in the late 16th Century.

Castrum doloris was a temporary decorative structure, often of considerable size, built around the catafalque to commemorate the monuments and the funerals of the rulers and other important people in the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Castra doloris was built in cathedrals or large churches. In the case of the monument’s funeral, castrum doloris did not have to be built only at the funeral site, but in every rich city of his empire. The forms of this solemn deathbed were varied, from the canopy above the coffin to the complex towers, or the triumphal arches. An important element was the allegory of the virtues or deeds of the deceased with accompanying inscriptions. There was often an empty coffin on the pedestal in the center.

Even though statues, alabaster, marble and precious metal elements could have been decorated, most of the design and decorations were made of short life material, wood, wax, paper and paper. Castra doloris were often projected by prominent architects, and various craftsmen were involved in their construction: carpenters, sculptors, painters, sculptors, stuccoers, carvers, tailors, embroidery makers, waiters, etc. The construction was removed after the mourning ceremonies that could last weeks and months persons. For its splendor, the castor doloris was often captured by a painting or graphics, so despite their relatively short existence, their appearance has often been preserved.

Notable examples include coffin portrait (Polish: portret trumienny) of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Artists and painters surpassed each other with the most splendid designs, so that in several churches different Castra doloris were set up. At the death of Emperor Leopold I (HRR) five Castra doloris were erected in Vienna alone. It turned out that the castrum doloris and the representation of a stately apotheosis often contradicted the actual circumstances of the reign. They formed an idealized overall picture based on the illusion of the virtuous and meritorious prince.

The erection of the castrum doloris was generally preceded by the placement of the corpse on the death bed or a catafalque, which could also be immortalized in the picture. By celebrating the exequia after the Caeremoniale episcoporum, the funeral sermon and funeral music as well as an elaborate play of light, the funeral experience at the Castrum doloris finally became an extraordinary sensual experience.

History:
The tradition of highly cultured burial of deceased celebrities dates back to early Christianity and refers to the early Christian tradition of the charlaturgy, in which Christians after the celebration of the suffering and death of Christ in the symbolic tomb of Christ (“Entombment of Christ”) without liturgical Dwell in the form of a prayer vigil and commemorate alone or in community the achievements of Jesus. Comparable to the symbolic grave of Christ on Good Friday, the laying on of deceased celebrities on a catafalque is still today the personal farewell and bereavement of a large number of survivors.

The forerunners of the Castrum doloris were in Italy and Burgundy in the 15th century, in the form of the edifices such as the Turin-Milan Book of Hours 1415-17 or a picture of the Boucicaut master in the Paris Bibliothèque Mazarine , or as Giorgio Vasari calls them works of Andrea Feltrini, who created apparati for weddings and funerals around 1500 in Florence. Also the cataletti for brotherhoods, such as Beccafumi, Sodoma and Peruzzi belong here. Among the precursors of the Castrum doloris you can also count the huge mourning structure, which was built in Brussels in 1558 for Charles V (HRR) and has been handed down by an engraving; it was formed in the form of a warship drawn and accompanied by sea monsters, which left the “Pillars of Hercules”; On deck were the cardinal virtues, flags and pennants bearing a wealth of emblems and allegories.

After the Pope Sixtus V. in 1564 for the exequen Michelangelo in San Lorenzo, Florence built by his friends a highly ornately decorated catafalque, which corresponded entirely to the character of the later Castra doloris, followed him finally aristocrats throughout Europe and had a funerary castle (Latin “Castrum doloris”) built around their corpse. They were found in secular and religious princely courts, even among the nobility, in dome chapters and pens, even in impoverished Szlachta. The imperial court went ahead both temporally as well as in the splendid execution and / or in the number of simultaneously built Castra doloris the other courts. As the number of known Castra doloris can not be overlooked, only a few examples are mentioned: 1) The Castrum doloris 1619 for Emperor Matthias (HRR) in the Vienna Augustinerkirche as a relatively early work, 2) The Castra doloris 1705 for Emperor Leopold I HRR) in numerous churches and 3) The Castrum doloris 1711 for Emperor Joseph I (HRR) in the Vienna Augustinerkirche (almost a theater decoration). Such Castra doloris could be very expensive. For example, the Castrum doloris in 1745 for Emperor Karl VII (HRR) in the Munich Theatinerkirche is known to cost 3700 guilders . Even the Castra doloris of its predecessors in Vienna, the high cost are known.

The great time of the Castra doloris was the 17th and 18th centuries. Its construction continued throughout the 19th century, though as an exception and without the emphatic architectural touch. There was a castrum doloris in 1881 for Tsar Alexander II, a castrum doloris in 1888 for Emperor Wilhelm I and a castrum doloris in 1894 for the French President Sadi Carnot.

Function:
If a celebrity was very popular with the Roman Catholic clerics, then almost all the monasteries and brotherhoods built Castra doloris. Among clerics, the castrum doloris was always aligned so that its head pointed to the altar; on the other hand, the feet were pointing to the altar. The Castra doloris were decorated with the most beautiful allegorical statues or virtues that harmonized with the true circumstances of the deceased, with the most beautiful architectural and sculptural work, with torches and illuminations ambulatory, and decorated with pedestals, emblems and inscriptions. The Castra Doloris also occasionally featured statues made of either alabaster, marble, wood or cardboard; plaintive women and boys with inverted and extinguished torches of life, Romanesque urns and inscriptions now and then affixed to the cornices, the portals and between the colonnades and the column. On the main facade of the Castrum doloris stood a few marshals and on the sides around other cavaliers. About this, the churches were completely clothed with a black cloth and attached to the princely churches (sometimes at other church squares) the family or official coat of arms of the celebrity. Sometimes the whole church was decorated like a mausoleum. There were cypress trees, symbols, statues, illuminations, and burning wax candles hanging from crystal or silver chandeliers. The pendant of the chandelier seemed like a fiery obelisk. In addition, you could still find precious monuments, ornated with very massive silver work, stained from bottom to top with wax candles, and often presented the merits of the ancestors with the most ingenious inscriptions. The pillars of the churches were often adorned with emblems depicting the valued deeds of the deceased. One saw also with Castra doloris of the high nobility broed coat of arms of all provinces on black velvet. These molluscs sometimes persisted for a few weeks, months, even half a year, before they were eroded. Subsequently, copper engravings were made and attached to the printed funeral sermons.

Castra doloris were built by carpenters and carpenters from light unpolished wood and then covered with black cloths and silver dresse, moor or Zindel, and with all sorts of sculpture, which was made generally only of cardboard, and with painting on white canvas, or at least on oiled Paper decorated for illuminating, for which a good poet invented the inscriptions to liven it up, as it were. But the whole disposition came to the master builder. The illuminations had to do most of it. For the moment, the contrefait of the deceased, painted in a glory or sun, should hover in the air, or be carried by a wire made of stiffened canvas or paper, over subtle wire formed thereafter, and flying angels inlaid with light. For embellishment, a portal of honor could be placed above the coffin “with a body made of Holtz, and beautifully painted in marble and metal art.”

The most important feature of a castrum doloris was the jewelery scaffolding erected to protect and accompany the catafalque, which carried an elaborately crafted canopy to cover the deathbed. It was decorated with the deceased’s coat of arms, his imperial insignia, candles, mourning flowers, an epitaph, as well as allegorical statues and wax paintings. From the time of the Renaissance to the Baroque, the embellishments became more and more lavish, until the Castrum doloris in Baroque should look like a single flame from the distance, and more than a thousand candles were placed on the canopy. The desire for a spectacle and festive occasions found expression here. The portrayal of glory and glory moved ever further into the foreground of rites and customs. Candles were distributed to the visitors of the liturgy. The number of distributed candles was associated with the prestige of the deceased, because candles were expensive. So it came in public churches regularly to tumults and disturbances because of the Andranges on the candle distributors.

The term Castrum doloris as a place for a part of the church liturgy of the dead. It sums up the songs and prayers used in the Renaissance and Baroque celebrities at the Castrum doloris when the bishop participated in the liturgy. It was the songs and prayers for the absolution of deceased celebrities following the funeral mass.

Absolution for the deceased has been part of the liturgy of the Church since ancient times, especially on the day of the funeral and on the third, seventh and thirtieth days after the passing away. According to Jan K. Siedleckis Cantionale ecclesiasticum and the Roman Missal, it first took place on the day of the funeral in connection with the actual funeral as a transition from the altar to the tomb. On the day of remembrance, instead of the coffin, there was a tumba (coffin) in the church where the rite was performed.