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  • Approaches to Poverty in Medieval Europe: Complexities, Contradictions, Transformations, c. 1100–1500 ed. by Farmer, Sharon
  • Constant J. Mews
Farmer, Sharon, ed., Approaches to Poverty in Medieval Europe: Complexities, Contradictions, Transformations, c. 1100–1500 (International Medieval Research, 22), Turnhout, Brepols, 2016; hardback; pp. viii, 252; 4 b/w illustrations; R.R.P. €80.00; ISBN 9782503555478.

Poverty is a theme that continues to fascinate scholars of medieval and early modern Europe. As Sharon Farmer explains in her introduction, there is still a sharp tension between the perspectives of Michel Mollat, who emphasized the impact of the Church in promoting concern for the poor, and of Bronislav Geremek, who emphasized how medieval churchmen re-asserted negative attitudes towards the poor. Farmer traces how both perspectives have had [End Page 170] their influence, even on the different papers within this volume. While there is no doubt that there was a dramatic growth in charitable institutions concerned for the poor in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, there is disagreement about its impact. As always, resolution of a historical problem lies in avoiding too many crass generalizations.

A study by Adam J. Davis of the development of hospitals and what he calls ‘a culture of compassion’ in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries argues persuasively in favour of a more positive attitude towards the poor being fostered in this period as a consequence of mendicant orders and the charitable bequests they generated. The archival evidence Davis has unearthed complements the inevitably idealistic picture presented by hagiographical accounts. While such charity was more about ensuring personal salvation than resolving endemic structural issues in the medieval economy, it provided avenues of welfare that simply did not exist in previous centuries.

Some papers touch on poverty without engaging so much in a religious dimension. Thus Janice Musson provides a specific analysis of court records of legal dispossession in the thirteenth century. The fact that a range of groups had access to royal justice to protest against such measures itself shows that the poor, if legally free, did have some confidence in a system designed to prevent arbitrary exploitation. From a different perspective, Alyssa M. Gray considers new thinking about the legality of excluding those who violate Jewish law from receiving charity, developed by Rabbi Eliezer of Metz (c. 1115–98). The issue involved resolving conflicting obligations. His resolution was towards greater strictness than had been the case, so as to preserve community values, echoing similar moves in Christian canon law, but undoubtedly influenced by heightened Jewish fear of apostasy from their community.

Allison Edgren focuses on the ambiguous character of mendicancy in the Franciscan Order. While Francis urged his friars to embrace the situation of being poor, there was clearly much reserve about begging, especially in the first half of the thirteenth century. By the 1240s, such advice was certainly attracting criticism from outside the Order. There was always sensitivity within the Order, whether begging might itself encourage greed. Such idealism only served to encourage negative attitudes towards those obliged to beg for a living. There is a similar realism of insight in Jill Moore’s study of how Inquisitors in Italy handled the significant funds that came their way as a result of confiscation of heretical goods. Avoiding easy generalization, she offers a range of examples to show how difficult it was for mendicant Inquisitors to avoid making significant profits. Some, like Francesco da Pocapaglia and Thomas de Gerzano, kept their vows, while there were others, like Giovanni dei Pizigotti and Mino da San Quirico, whose extravagance encouraged public suspicion and even formal complaints. [End Page 171]

In a masterly survey, Samuel K. Cohn, Jr considers the paradox that characterized Europe in the late fourteenth century: economic conditions for a peasant class seem to have been improving, although in the face of increasing hostility to the popular movements that surfaced during the 1370s. Cohn’s analysis offers an eloquent plea for comparative study and recognition of a range of situations. Political developments served to limit the opportunities that economic prosperity might offer. His conclusions are paralleled by the more local study of Pol Serrahima i Balius of the accounts of an almshouse (the Almoina) of...

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