Funeral ceremonies in towns of Lesser Poland in the lightof probate inventories (16th–18th c.)

Abstract

Probate inventories are, along with testaments, an important source of data on the organi-zation and costs of funeral ceremonies in the 16th–18th c. Available municipal records from over 60 towns in the voivodships of Cracow and Sandomierz include 616 probate inventories, but only a few provide information of the organization and costs of funerals. There are only 7 such documents from the 16th c. (4% of all the inventories), 40 (10%) from the 17th c. and 11 (24%) from the 18th c. The expenses listed in the inventories were of two kinds: those related to the deceased person, covering the vigil at the body, the coffin and the special clothes, the preparation of the grave and the purchase of candles, and those related to the ceremony: inviting priests, paying for masses, providing the setting for the service and organizing the funeral procession.The sums spent depended on the affluence of the departed and their relatives. Funeral expenses could also include the preparation of a dinner for the relatives or for the poor, or alms for the latter. If a meal was prepared, the expenses recorded regarded the purchase of food (bread, meat, vegetables, spices) and drinks (beer and vodka) for the guests and those involved in the preparation of ceremonies.