Sacred charity : confraternities and social welfare in Spain, 1400-1700
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Sacred charity : confraternities and social welfare in Spain, 1400-1700
Macmillan, 1989
Available at 5 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Bibliography: p. 183-197
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Medieval cities faced a multitude of problems that government refused to confront. In a world of hunger, plague and rampant poverty, charity dispensed by religious organizations provided the only relief. Challenging the widely accepted notion that charity was distributed in a haphazard and indiscriminate manner, Flynn argues that confraternities dedicated to almsgiving created the first comprehensive welfare system in Western Europe. Both rich and poor joined confraternities dedicated to feeding the hungry and caring for the sick, inspired by the belief that salvation could be procured through good deeds. They followed biblical precepts known commonly as the seven acts of mercy. The confraternities' ritual performance of these acts met material needs of the community with great regularity. Professor Flynn also uncovers an imaginative and coherent religious ideology of mutual co-operation in traditional popular culture.
Table of Contents
- The confraternal structure of Zamora
- the charitable activities of the confraternities
- welfare reform - attempts to displace charity
- the counter reformation and tradition.
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