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Skriv ut sidan - Avliden i förgiftning, begravd i tysthet.
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Titel: Avliden i förgiftning, begravd i tysthet.
Skrivet av: Anna-Carin Betzén skrivet 2005-01-20, 23:42
I think begravd i tysthet means that there was no bell-ringing allowed (though today the meaning of the expression has shifted towards a generally low-profile burial). I base my assumption on what I've read in a recent book about Swedish culture in the middle ages, Signums svenska kulturhistoria: Medeltiden. It has a full 20 pages on bell-ringing practices and their significance, from the middle ages and on.
In the book there's a section named Burial without bells, and in short it says that a person who committed suicide couldn't be buried in the churchyard, nor would there be any bell-ringing for him/her. The book says that the lack of bell-ringing was considered a substantial punishment, and that relatives sometimes tried to conceal the suicide so that the bells would be rang. From 1684 and on, if suicide was suspected it was the judge who determined if there had to be a quiet burial, and in that case no bell-ringing was allowed. These conditions were valid until 1908 (in some cases 1894). For those who'd died while committing a serious crime, the conditions applied up to 1951.
So, the book seems to back up Elisabeth's conclusions above.