Suicide in the Middle Ages: Volume 2: The Curse on Self-Murder: (Suicide in the Middle Ages)

A group of men dig a tunnel under the threshold of a house. Then they go and fetch a heavy, sagging object from inside the house, pull it out through the tunnel, and put it on a cow-hide to be dragged off and thrown into the offal-pit. Why should the corpse of a suicide – for that is what it is– have earned this unusual treatment? In The Curse on Self-Murder, the second volume of his three-part Suicide in the Middle Ages, Alexander Murray explores the origin of the condemnation of suicide, in a quest which leads along the most unexpected byways of medieval theology, law, mythology, and folklore –and, indeed, in some instances beyond them. At an epoch when there might be plenty of ostensible reasons for not wanting to live, the ways used to block the suicidal escape route give a unique perspective on medieval religion.

Review :
`this is a book which richly repays the effort spent following the author through the staggering range of material deployed here ... It is this range of sources which allows Murray to argue confidently and persuasively that the hostility to self-killing which can be observed in the medieval West was not imposed by the Christian Church, but has far deeper and more complex roots.' Rosemary Horrox, Mortality, 6:1, 2001 `This is not only an extraordinarily learned book; it is the subtle and controlled handling of the sources that gives the narrative its authority ... Its scale and ambition make much intellectual history seem superficial.' Margaret Atkins, The Tablet, 7 April 2001 `Murray is telling us about far more than suicide itself ... His concern to understand and unravel the transmission of beliefs, traditions and processes of thought amounts to a prolonged meditation on teh nature of medieval evidence, and how to read it.' Andrew Jotischky, Social History Society `We could hope for no better guide.' Margaret Atkins, The Tablet, 7 April 2001 `Murray is telling us about far more than suicide itself. His concern to understand and unravel the transmission of beliefs, traditions and processes of thought amounts to a prolonged meditation on the nature of medieval evidence, and how to read it.' Andrew Jotischky, Social History Society `this strange and compelling book' Andrew Jotischky, Social History Society `a lively discussion of practices ... Monumental, wide-ranging and valuable, this is a work of extensive and impressive scholarship.' Robert Swandon, TLS 26.01.01. `This is history on the exhaustive scale. It will become the definitive study almost as a by-product.' Contemporary Review, Dec. 2000. `writing in an engaging, rather avuncular style, addressing the reader directly, expounding his methods and conclusions as he goes along, with elegance and as much humour as the subject permits ... this gem of historical research provokes, as the best history should, thoughts well beyond its own boundaries.' Spectator `going far beyond the rather impressionistic treatments of earlier scholars.' Michael Goodich, American Historical Review, April 2000. `Murray provides an admirabel summary of the raw material of actual suicides in the Middle Ages drawn from a rich variety of sources, whose effective mining often requires considerable spadework. His graphic prose displays a sensitivity not merely to the dry data but also to the human tragedies these tales reveal. The forthcoming volumes, which will flesh out our understanding of how suicide was understood by contemporaries and what this tells us about medieval culture, will be eagerly awaited.' Michael Goodich, American Historical Review, Apr 2000. `No reader can fail to be struck by the spaciousness of this volume. Its author seems to have been the recipient of a plenary dispensation from word limits. Most other scholars who have worked with the sorts of source which yield stories of 'portraits' can only envy Murray the scope allowed him for scrupulous and detailed assessment of his material and the unfolding of engrossing narratives. Reading social history can sometimes be hard work, like hacking and sweating one's way through the dense undergrowth of a dark, crowded wood. Guided by Alexander Murray, an immensely knowledgeable historian and consummate story-teller, the reader canters through rolling park land, enjoying broad vistas and well-spaced stands of timber.' Ralph Holbrooke, University of Reading, Reviews in History `The first volume alone is substantial, and displays formidable learning. Yet Murray's fine powers of organisation and his narrative liveliness carry the reader easily on. A good historian telss a story while also educating the reader in the craft of history itself. Alexander Murray, as he conjures his narrative with subtlety, precision and imagination from so wide a variety of intractable sources, invites the student of history to a master-class.' Margaret Atkins, The Tablet 22/05/1999