Charity and Community in Medieval Cambridge

Rubin, Miri

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511522444

Cited by 132 publications

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“…12 12 See, for instance, Tierney, Medieval poor law , chs. 5–6; Rubin, Charity and community , ch. 7; Mollat, Poor in the middle ages , pp.…”

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confidence: 99%

The social economy of the medieval village in the early fourteenth century¹

Schofield

2008

The Economic History Review

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A significant issue for the historical investigation of the nature of the economy and society of the medieval English village has been the extent to which wealthier villagers were able and willing to respond to the needs of their less fortunate neighbours through informal charity, including the extension of credit and lowered costs for foodstuffs in periods of harvest failure. This article presents a case study of aspects of the local economy, principally viewed through land market activity and inter‐personal litigation, in the early fourteenth century. It concludes that, in this context, there is little evidence for such non‐aggressive activity during the subsistence crises of c.1300. Instead, a focus on the market and best economic opportunity persisted in ways that were likely to have been antithetical to contemporary views of charitable giving and which may have informed other aspects of social and economic dealing within the local community.

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“…12 12 See, for instance, Tierney, Medieval poor law , chs. 5–6; Rubin, Charity and community , ch. 7; Mollat, Poor in the middle ages , pp.…”

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confidence: 99%

The social economy of the medieval village in the early fourteenth century¹

Schofield

2008

The Economic History Review

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“…There have been a number of scholarly studies of individual hospitals and the hospitals of particular regions. 20 Scholars have also studied other institutional expressions of charity, whether in the form of medieval confraternities, 'poor tables' often located near churches, or the various new religious charitable orders that were founded in this period, such as the Hospitallers of St. John, the Order of Santiago, the Teutonic Order, the bridge brotherhoods, the Antonines, the Order of the Holy Spirit, the Trinitarians, and the Mercedarians. 21 In Italy during the second half of the 15th century, the Monti di Pietà emerged as a kind of charitable pawnshop, where those in need could borrow a small sum of cash for relatively little or no interest.…”

Section: Institutional and Informal Charitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social and Religious Meanings of Charity in Medieval Europe

Davis

2014

History Compass

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There is considerable evidence that during the 12th and 13th centuries, Latin Christendom experienced a charitable revolution. This period witnessed the foundation of large numbers of leprosaria and hospitals for the sick and poor, as well as the creation of confraternities and religious orders engaged in intensive charitable work. Some historians have argued that this charitable outpouring was principally spurred by economic and material forces, as well as a burgeoning urban culture. However, others have suggested that developments in spirituality and devotional culture are central to understanding what medieval charity meant to its practitioners. For still other scholars, medieval charity was primarily a way to elevate one's social status and affirm existing hierarchies of power. This essay surveys different historical interpretations of the social and religious meaning of charity during the Middle Ages, including how historians of medieval and early modern Europe have periodized charitable practices and how they have used charity as a window into the interactions between the rich and poor, powerful and powerless.Twelfth and thirteenth-century Europe witnessed a rapidly growing population and the rise of an urban, commercial, monetary society in which there were increasingly visible manifestations of both structural and conjunctural poverty and other forms of suffering. Since the 1960s and 70s, with the rise of social history as a sub-discipline, medieval historians have shown an intense interest in writing 'history from below' and learning more about the experiences of marginalized social groups. This can be seen not only in some of the classic work on the medieval poor but also in more recent studies of lepers and the disabled. 1 Social historians have been especially interested in the daily lives and standards of living of the poor and powerless. They have used a variety of sources in trying to recover the voices and experiences of the miserabiles themselves, unmediated by any filter that might instead ref lect the perspective of clerical elites or benefactors. A criticism that is sometimes leveled against the sources employed for the study of medieval charity is that they rarely yield much information about the recipients of charity, focusing almost exclusively on the benefactors. Testaments, for example, are one of the most useful sources for studying charitable practices, but even when such sources provide clues about the survival patterns of the poor, this information is often mediated by the testator or notary responsible for drafting the will. 2 Still, the study of charity helps illuminate not just the kinds of assistance provided to the needy but the nature of the relationship between rich and poor, powerful and powerless. The subject of medieval charity has provided a valuable window into the experiences of the powerless by examining social attitudes toward them and the different ways they were treated. How could lepers be the objects of social scorn and yet also be depicted as valuable spiritual i...

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“…York gained 212 new freemen in the year 1350 alone, 80 and in Canterbury 136 new freemen were admitted between 1349 and 1351. 88 The longer recovery was delayed, the more complex the problems confronting landlords. 82 Despite subsequent immigration, the Black Death adversely affected the incomes of urban landlords.…”

Section: Consequences and Opportunities 1349-61mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet urban landlords often suffered a severe financial and administrative crisis because of the reduced demand for less attractive properties. 94 Amongst these corporate beneficiaries of the Black Death were the borough communities themselves. Rochester Priory held an inquest in 1355 to establish which tenants in Rochester had died during the plague; its purpose was probably to establish what reliefs ought to have been collected from incoming tenants.…”

Section: Consequences and Opportunities 1349-61mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Black Death in English towns

Britnell

1994

Urban History

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It seems likely that historians in the past have seriously underestimated the number of English townsmen in the early fourteenth century. In London alone there may have been 80–100,000 around 1300. The population of Norwich in the early fourteenth century was higher than used to be thought, and it was growing: Rutledge proposes 17,000 for 1311 and 25,000 for 1333. Keene's estimate of about 10,000 for Winchester in the early fourteenth century can serve as a basis for estimating the population of other towns in the same period. Those whose taxable value in 1334, and whose contribution to the poll tax of 1377, was at least as great as Winchester's, probably had a population equal to Winchester's or greater around 1300. By this argument about fifteen towns, including London, are likely to have had 10,000 or more people at the beginning of the fourteenth century, and perhaps 5 per cent of England's population lived in towns of this rank. Estimates taking account of smaller towns are much more precarious, but it is possible that all told 10 per cent of England's population lived in towns of over 2,000 inhabitants and that a further 5 per cent lived in small boroughs, some with as few as 300 people. Even this estimate does not take account of many small market towns, not described as boroughs, that had elementary urban characteristics.

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Charity and Community in Medieval Cambridge

Cited by 132 publications

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The social economy of the medieval village in the early fourteenth century¹

The social economy of the medieval village in the early fourteenth century¹

The Social and Religious Meanings of Charity in Medieval Europe

The Black Death in English towns

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Charity and Community in Medieval Cambridge

Cited by 132 publications

References 0 publications

The social economy of the medieval village in the early fourteenth century1

The social economy of the medieval village in the early fourteenth century1

The Social and Religious Meanings of Charity in Medieval Europe

The Black Death in English towns

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The social economy of the medieval village in the early fourteenth century¹

The social economy of the medieval village in the early fourteenth century¹