Charity and religion in medieval Europe

"Benevolence toward the poor in medieval Europe rested upon ideological foundations established by Christianity and was practiced by a diverse body of clerics and lay people. Charity and Religion in Medieval Europe is the first comprehensive study of the ideas that underlie medieval generosity and of the institutions created to serve the poor. It traces the roots of this liberality to the patristic era and demonstrates how the ideas of twelfth-century reformers, especially Pope Innocent III, broadened and deepened society's commitment to the downtrodden. In successive chapters, the informative study outlines the charitable practices of monasteries, bishops and their chapters, and individual clerics and lay people. It also chronicles the emergence of specialized religious orders that sheltered pilgrims, ransomed captives, tended to victims of skin diseases, cared for orphans and the sick, and attempted the reform of prostitutes.^ A chapter devoted to lay charity demonstrates how an ideal of practical sanctity helped to promote acts of generosity within parishes, confraternities, and various types of lay ascetical associations. Within hospitals and other institutions of charity, trad