Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

DANCE OF DEATH

Dance of Death: translation

An allegory expressed in literary and visual representations showing death taking the high- and the low-born in procession towards the grave. The idea was probably given impetus by the *Black Death of 1348.

  1. dance of death—Dance of Death translation Dance of Death Originally a species of spectacular play akin to the English moralities. It has been traced back to the middle of the fourteent...Catholic encyclopedia