Economics of Faith

This book addresses the role of religious reformers in the development of poor relief in the sixteenth century. During the Reformation, religious leaders served as catalysts, organizers, stabilizers, and consolidators of various programs to alleviate poverty. Although once in line with religious piety, voluntary poverty was no longer a spiritual virtue for many religious reformers. Rather, they imagined social welfare reform to be an integral part of religious reform and worked to modify existing common chests or establish new ones. As crises and migration exacerbated poverty and caused begging to be an increasing concern, Catholic humanists and Protestant reformers moved beyond traditional almsgiving to urge coordination and centralization of a poor relief system. For example, Martin Luther promoted the consolidation of former ecclesiastical property in the poor relief plan for Leisnig in 1523, while Juan Luis Vives devised a new social welfare proposal for Bruges in 1526. In negotiations with magistrates and city councils, reformers shaped various local institutions, such as hospitals, orphanages, job creation programs, and scholarships for students, as well as developed new ways of supporting foreigners, strangers, and refugees. Religious leaders contributed to caring for the vulnerable because poverty was a problem too big for any one group to tackle. As religious options multiplied within Christianity, one’s understanding of community would determine the boundaries, albeit contested and sometimes fluid, of responsible poor relief.