A Short History of the Middle Ages Fourth Edition

Plate 8.1: Corpses Confront the Living (c.1441). This unusual illustration shows not only the physical
confrontations between the dead and the living but also verbal exchanges written on scrolls in front of each
protagonist. For example, the king (top right), proudly faces the viewer and boasts, “I am the king and the
emperor and a lover of delights.” But the corpse calls his bluff: “Once you ruled over nations; now you are
conquered by worms.”