Description: "The dead have ne existence other than that which the living imagine for them". So begins Jean-Claude Schmitt's fascinating study of ghosts in the Middle Ages. Using many different medieval texts, Schmitt examines the significance of the widespread belief in ghosts, asking who returned, to whom, from where, in what form, and why. He traces the imaginative, political, and, most important, religious contexts of these everyday ghosts -- recently departed ordinary people who were a part of the complex social world of the living. Ghosts were pitiful or terrifying, usually solitary, creatures who arose from their tombs to haunt their friends and relatives. Through this vivid study, the dead are made to speak, and what they say sheds much light on the lives, hopes, and fears of the living.

Schmitt also discusses Augustine's influence on medieval authors; the link between dreams and autobiographical narratives: and monastic visions and folklore. Including numerous color reproductions of ghosts and ghostly trappings, this book presents a unique and intriguing look at medieval culture.

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