Charity and Welfare: Hospitals and the Poor in Medieval Catalonia (Middle Ages Series) [Hardcover]

James Brodman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Middle Ages Series | Publication Date: April 1998

Hospitals were broadly conceived in the Middle Ages as establishments that received pilgrims and travelers, tended to the poor, and, with the professionalization of medicine, increasingly came to provide care to the sick and dying. In Charity and Welfare, James Brodman surveys the networks of hospitals and charitable institutions in medieval Catalonia that gave food to the hungry, dowries to indigent women, shelter to the homeless, and palliative care to the ill. The book shows how, just as contemporary society struggles with the issues of welfare reform, managed health care, and assistance to the elderly, so did the people of the Middle Ages deal with questions of who to help and what criteria to use to make those decisions. In their assessments, they made a clear distinction between charity, aid given gratuitously and indiscriminately to others, and welfare, assistance targeted toward certain groups for particular, desired ends. The author concludes that Catalan hospitals depended upon the close collaboration of church and state, a mixture of voluntary and public funding, and a combination of religious and secular values.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812234367
• ISBN-13: 978-0812234367
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,146,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. James W. Brodman (Ph.D., University of Virginia) is a medieval historian with specialties in medieval religion and social policy and the History of Spain. His monographs deal with the problem of medieval captivity, the history of hospitals and the interconnections between religion and social policy. Articles touch upon aspects of medieval law and society and relations between Europe and the Islamic world. His work has been published in eight countries on three continents. He is currently professor of history at the University of Central Arkansas, past president of the American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain and the founder/director of the Library of Iberian Resources Online. An avid traveler, he regularly speaks to audiences in the Caribbean, Europe and the Mediterranean.