This book sets out the importance of charity in Scottish Reformation studies. Based on extensive archival research involving more than thirty parishes, it sheds new light on the practice of poor relief in the century following the Reformation.
John McCallum challenges the assumption that charitable activity was weak and informal in Scotland by uncovering the surviving records of welfare work carried out by the church. And he skilfully demonstrates that kirk sessions were key welfare providers in early modern Scotland and provided effective relief to a range of people who struggled in poverty. In addition to the analysis of specific parish activities, readers gain a rare insight into the lives of the poor Scots who looked to the church for assistance in the early modern era.
- ISBN13 9781474474788
- Publish Date 31 May 2020
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Edinburgh University Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 288
- Language English