Piety and Charity in late Medieval Florence

Abstract

This book examines the relationship between the secular and sacred through the vehicle of the religious confraternity, one of the most ubiquitous and popular forms of lay association throughout Europe. Based on a wealth of new documentation John Henderson provides a fascinating account of the development of the major confraternities in Florence in relation to other types of communal ecclesiastical institutions. Henderson discusses in detail their devotional activities for living members, including the singing of lauds, self-flagellation, processions and dramatic presentations, as well as funerals and commemorative services for the dead. He then provides one of the most detailed analyses of poor relief in late medieval Europe, all against the background of changing social, demographic, and economic regimes of the late medieval commune. Taken together the two themes of this book, piety and charity, provide new evidence concerning the complex relationship between religion and society in both private and public life.