Dies Irae
Dies Irae EuropeLiterally, ‘day of wrath’. The preoccupation of medieval Christians was the end of the world; they anticipated the Last Judgement, followed by the Millennium. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the West there was a revival of the belief in the end of time. The year 1000 likewise excited mythological speculation, as did famines, plagues, and earthquakes. Most influential were the views of the visionary Joachim of Fiore (1145–1202). He divided history into several ages and said that in 1260 would be the fulfilment of the Age of the Spirit, which had begun with St Benedict (480–550). At that time mankind could expect a new revelation, the coming of Antichrist, and the last days of wrath. This myth, written down at the behest of the Papacy, exerted a potent influence on medieval thought, and in its vision of a future world where the Holy Roman Empire and the Church of Rome would give place to a free community of perfected beings who have...
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