de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception
In 1348, the Black Death (the Pestilence, the Great Mortality) hit England. By the end of the following year it had killed around half of the population. It was like the end of the world and all of a sudden a good death was impossible. It was so sudden and all the usual comforts were gone because priests were dying too and so were unable to minister to people dying. The Bishop of Bath and Wells gave instructions for people to confess to each other (even to women!) if there was no priest available. These special measures were essential because sin caused suffering and people needed to be absolved. The Bishop of Winchester, William Edendon, believed that human sensuality produced a multitude of sins which resulted in the plague, which he saw as divine judgement. He urged congregations to pray for souls and to confess their sins. Every Friday, the people and clergy of Winchester processed around the marketplace with bowed heads and feet reciting the Lord’s Prayer and Hail Mary. Edendon granted all who did it an indulgence of forty days, meaning that their time in Purgatory would be forty days less.
Read more: http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/helen-castors-medieval-lives-birth-marriage-death-episode-3-good-death/#ixzz2jRgEbIaW
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