Charity and Lay Piety in Reformation London, 1500–1620

Before the Reformation, parishioners believed that salvation came through good works (including charity), and the intercesion of priests, saints and Christians who prayed for the souls of the dead.

Without denying the selfless motives for giving, the selfish motives, from securing salvation to perpetuating the family name, helped to spur late-medieval men and women to charitable acts.

After the Reforamtion, even with purgatory abolished and Catholic acts of mercy discredited, charity remained an important act of faith - beneficial to the individual, useful to society, and pleasing to God.

This system was sanctioned through the use of Scripture.

This text then examines the culture of giving that developed after the Reformation, considering the religious and social aspects of poor relief, including those of gender, community, and the recasting of the role of the poor within society.