„darinn mein Leib verzehret werd“. Die Kalkbestattungen Maximilians I. und der Herzöge von Bayern-Landshut zwischen Demut und Pragmatik

The use of lime and quicklime in burials during the Middle Ages is the subject of ongoing debate among archaeologists. In contrast to the archaeological evidence, however, written sources have been neglected by previous scholarship, when in fact they allow for deeper insights into the matter. Two late medieval examples – that of Emperor Maximilian I and the Dukes of Bayern-Landshut – suggest that some individuals used quicklime in order to accelerate the decomposition process. Thereby, they were showing humility in the face of death while at the same time the quicklime facilitated the transportation of the body or allowed for three generations to be introduced into the same grave. Quicklime residue in graves cannot therefore solely be linked to its supposedly protective properties against infectious disease, which can only be understood as one of several possible explanations.