A Dinastia de Avis organizou, desde seus primórdios, um discurso legitimador baseado na ideia de família exemplar, essencial para assegurar o direito de sua linhagem ao trono. Este discurso foi baseado em uma série de suportes, como obras moralizantes e narrativas cronísticas. Nossa pesquisa volta-se para as representações da morte. Os estudos sobre a morte no período medieval geralmente se restrigem a uma abordagem meramente religiosa, voltada apenas para a salvação da alma. Entretanto, verificamos que as práticas mortuárias das monarquias estão inseridas não só em uma perspectiva religiosa, mas também em uma lógica de poder e memória. Desse modo, investigamos nesse trabalho de que maneira a Dinastia de Avis, fruto do processo político oriundo da crise sucessória de 1383, mobiliza um Ideário Fúnebre em prol da perpetuação de sua memória, enquanto mecanismo de legitimação dinástica. Para isso, analisamos os testamentos, cerimoniais fúnebres descritos nas crônicas oficiais e outros documentos, referentes aos reis D. João I, D. Duarte, D. Afonso V e D. João II, como, por exemplo, o Leal Conselheiro e o Esquema de sermão feito por D. Duarte para pregação nas exéquias de seu pai. Por intermédio de uma análise comparativa, confirmamos nossa hipótese de que há o planejamento de um Ideário Fúnebre pelos quatro primeiros reis da dinastia, por meio da organização de uma memória litúrgica mortuária. / The Avis Dynasty organized, from its earliest days, a legitimizing discourse based on the idea of exemplary family, essential to secure the right to the throne of its lineage. This discourse was based on a series of supports, such as moralizing books and chronicle narratives. Our research studies the representations of death. Studies of death in the medieval period generally restrict themselves to a purely religious approach, aimed only at the salvation of the soul. However, we realize that the mortuary practices of monarchies are inserted not only in a religious perspective, but also in a logic of power and memory. Therefore, we investigate in this research how the Avis Dynasty, fruit of the political process originated by the crisis of succession of 1383, mobilizes a set of ideal preparations for death for the perpetuation of its memory, as mechanism of dynastic legitimation. For this reason, we analyze the testaments, funeral ceremonials described in the official chronicles and other documents, such as the Loyal Counselor and the Sermon Scheme that D. Duarte wrote for preaching in the requiem masses of his father, referring to the kings D. João I, D. Duarte, D. Afonso V and D. João II. Through a comparative analysis, we confirm our hypothesis that there is a planning of a set of ideal preparations for death by the four first kings of the dynasty, through the organization of a mortuary liturgical memory.

This study focuses on analysing Mexican children’s representations of death inasmuch as children are perceived as social actors that have an active role in constructing and giving meaning to social reality. The importance of analysing children’s representations about death is that it provides an opportunity to know how children give meaning to a notion that intersects with personal experiences, emotions, religious beliefs, and a sociocultural context. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse, visually and verbally, the ways in which children - from 8 to 9 years of age - in a Mexican primary school represent their understanding of death through their drawings and their oral descriptions of them, which may unveil their opinions on the subject. The research material consists of the drawings and interviews of primary school children in Mexico. The girls and boys, who were in third grade, were selected from a school population based on a convenience sampling (Bryman 2016, p.187). The method of analysis is a combination of thematic analysis and Rose’s visual discourse analysis I. The main findings are that the participants represented their understanding of death in terms of realistic, fantastic and afterlife narratives according to their experiences. Most of the participants’ visions of death were represented with archetypal symbols of death, such as death personified. Contrary, the representations of the few participants who had a personal loss were realistic, except for one of them. In this sense, children’s representations of death draw on discourses imbued in visual media, religion, morality, and culture. Children's emotions about death varied according to their experiences, although most participants said that they do not fear death. Regarding life after death, most participants recognize a duality between body and soul. While the body dies, the soul lives and the place where the soul goes was perceived mainly in moralistic terms.