The Seventh Seal follows a returned Crusader knight, his squire, and a troupe of actors as they encounter violence, plague, and (literal) Death in medieval Sweden.
In this clip from Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (1957), a rural town in interrupted by the violent and frightful procession of flagellants -- wandering penitent Christians who believe the plague was sent by God, and that physical pain is the…
This large mural painting from the fifteenth century, originally in Taby Church in Stockholm, shows Death playing chess with a man, as he does in Bergman's The Seventh Seal. It was painted by Albertus Pictor, a famous late medieval artist (who is…
This sixteenth century woodcut shows a skeletal, personified Death pursuing the titular count. It was part of a series by Hans Holbein on the Dance of Death, in which Death strikes down men and women of all classes to be united in death. This idea…
The significant widespread practice of public penance, seen in The Seventh Seal with the flagellants, is well-documented in medieval Europe. This 1348 letter, written by the Archbishop of York William Zouche to another official, reflects one of the…