The Reformation of Community: Social Welfare and Calvinist Charity in Holland, 1572-1620

ISBN-13: 9780521623056 / Angielski / Twarda / 1998 / 242 str.

Charles H. Parker

Opis

The Protestant Reformation and revolt against Spain led to major struggles among civic and religious leaders over how to care for the poor in the cities of Holland. For centuries parish charity had been devoted to all poor residents. Calvinists, however, intended their church deacons (who were responsible for charity) to care primarily, if not exclusively, for poor church members. Focusing on six cities, this study shows that the struggle over charity is best understood as a conflict between two distinct visions of Christian community during the Reformation.

Recenzje

'The first comparative study of urban charitable agencies in Calvinist Holland … a great accomplishment.' Journal of Modern History

Spis treści

Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. The municipal community and parish charity in late medieval Holland; 3. The civic community and poor relief, 1500–1614; 4. Poor relief in a confessional community: the creation of the Dutch Reformed diaconate, 1566–78; 5. The dynamics of the Reformed community: discipline and poor relief, 1572–1620; 6. Municipal welfare and the Calvinist diaconate, 1572–1620; 7. The pillars of a new society: religious pluralism and confessional identity in Reformation Holland; Bibliography; Index.