Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2018
Abstract
In his lamentation on the death of his friend, Simon, Aelred responds to a centuries-long suspicion about grief by mounting an apology for mourning that is in keeping with a larger Cistercian trend. Aelred’s chief preoccupation in the lamentation is, however, to emphasize the productivity of grief, both for the living and for the dead. Aelred associates the desire to reunite with the beloved dead with stimulating the mourner’s desire for heaven as location for the longed-for reunion, and he conceives of the pain associated with bereavement as payment for the sins of the deceased.
Recommended Citation
Harrison, Anna (2018) "“Where Have You Vanished?” Aelred of Rievaulx’s Lamentation on the Death of Simon," Quidditas: Vol. 39 , Article 11. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/rmmra/vol39/iss1/11
