Philanthropy in England, 1480 - 1660

A study of the Changing Patterns of English Social Aspirations

W. K. Jordan, W.K. Jordan

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781135656515
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

This study documents a momentous shift which occurred in men's aspirations for their society in the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The author has examined gifts and bequests left for charitable causes over a period of nearly two centuries. in ten English counties, in order to assess the changing pattern of social aspirations and observe the different 'velocities of change' among the several social classes.

Professor Jordan examines the problem of poverty in the early modern world and discusses the various measures taken by the Tudors and Stuarts to deal with the needs of the poor. He concludes that poverty was principally relieved by an immense outpouring of charitable wealth. This wealth flowed principally from an urban aristocracy determined not only to care for the hopelessly destitute but so to enlarge the 'area of opportunity' so that poverty could be prevented. At the same time, the Elizabethan law of charitable uses marshalled this generous wealth into effective agencies. The study closes with a full assessment of the noble achievements of the period: the founding of a widespread and effective system of education, the establishment of almshouses in all parts of England, and extraordinairy adn fertile experiments with the several agencies of social rehabilitation.

The author records in this voluma a great and enduring historical achievement; he records as well the triumph of the secular preoccupations of mankind.

This book was first published in 1959.

Index

Abbeys. Vide Monasteries

Abbot, Archbishop George, 218

Abuses in charitable trusts, 113, 116-117

Vide also Commissions of charitable uses

Accounts, churchwardens and overseers, 102, 128-142

Acts of Parliament. Vide Statutes

Adams, Thomas, 225-226

Adams, Thomas, D.D., 192-193

"Additional burghers", 328-329; range of philanthropy, 351

Administration, local, 18, 82-83, 90, 101-107, 133-135, 141, 326, 361

Vide also Churchwardens, Constables, County, Judges, Justices of peace, Municipal authorities, Overseers, Parish

"Age of Elizabeth" (1561-1600) Vide Elizabeth, Age of

"Age of the Gospel", 230-239

"Age of Reformation" (1541-1560) Vide Reformation, Age of

Aged, the, 42,68,132,214,255,257

Vide also Almshouses, Poor relief

Agrarian reform, 95-96, 176-177, 213

Agrarian revolution, 61-63, 65-66, 78, 95-96, 148, 210-212

Agricultural labourers, 327

"All England", 240, 342

Allen, Robert, 170-171

Almsgiving, 17-18, 40-41, 54-56, 58-61, 85, 146-147, 152-153, 171, 180-181, 199-201, 255, 263, 305, 343, 346, 349, 351

Vide also Collections, Doles, Gifts (outright), Poor relief

Almshouses, 24, 41-42, 58, 86, 95, 97-98, 104, 107, 114-116, 119, 139-140, 153-154, 162, 198, 216-217, 220, 223, 230, 235, 257-263, 297, 341, 343, 362, 364, 369

Vide also Hospitals

Anglicanism, 155, 188, 238, 282

Vide also Calvinism, Church, Protestantism

Anti-clericalism, 20, 51, 247, 297, 306, 350

Anyan, Thomas,...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• PREFACE
• BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
• Contents
• I THE CONCEPTION
• II THE METHOD
• III THE NEED
• IV THE MECHANISMS
• V LAW AND REALITY
• VI THE IMPULSE
• VII THE ACHIEVEMENT
• APPENDIX
• INDEX