State, Church and Voluntarism in European Welfare 1690-1850

The reconfiguration of charity and social discipline which took place in the 150 years or so following the Reformation has attracted the attention of a distinguished roster of historians. Characteristically, each has focused on the experience of a particular country, even a particular region. Yet they have also shown an interest in comparative issues. Curiosity about the extent and nature of differences between Catholic and Protestant practice has provided an important stimulus to this form of work. Collectively, historians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have succeeded in mapping out a fairly coherent picture of commonalities and variations, both in the intentions and in the achievements of governments and the charitable in the face of poverty and distress. Robert Jutte’s recent survey, Poverty and Deviance in Early Modern Europe, synthesizes a generation and more of this work.