Introduction

The Dance of Death as an allegorical image encapsulates the fears of the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period in Europe. As a popular motif in art, literature and drama, it represented the prevailing vulnerability of the human condition. In its essence, the Dance of Death, or Danse macabre, is a variation on the theme of mortality and sin which was common in the Middle Ages, but it also presents itself as an image for the actual fragility of life. The Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period offered a great plenty of possible summons by Death to its victims. The vulnerability of late medieval and early modern people to environmental disruptions was high. Thus, measures were taken to increase resilience and loosen the grip of Death by establishing procedures and institutions to limit the spread of diseases, to mitigate the impact of subsistence crises and to control the landscape.