Tomáš Malý

Concepts of Charity: The Habsburg Empire and the South Moravian Example, 1750–1800

The article deals with the concept of charity (almsgiving, philanthropy) in the context of the changing religious and social situation in the Habsburg Empire between 1750 and 1800. The intellectual discussions, the administrative reforms and the testamentary practices of charity (charitable bequests) are followed in order to delineate the relationship between discourse and social practice. Although paradoxes can be observed, there was a clear common point for all three areas: the differentiation of the poor according to a new definition of “needs” and a tendency towards “practical” (and obligatory) charity. This shift from the post-Tridentine Catholic concept was accompanied – mainly in towns – by a significant transformation of the social space and structure.

Early Modern Purgatory: Reformation Debates and Post-Tridentine Change

With early modern discussions on purgatory, the doctrine gainedna new dimension. The content and structure of these debates,nhowever, changed in the course of the sixteenth century. As thensixteenth century was dominated by a confessionalized,npolemical approach, in which there was no place for any detailsnabout purgatory itself, later debates became more elaborated,nas a consequence of the transformation of Catholic discourse innthe sense of a concretisation of the description of the placesnin the next world and a differentiation of sources used tonprove the existence of purgatory. The topic of purgatory wasngradually included in Catholic meditative literature and in thenmoral education tradition of ars moriendi prints, andnsimultaneously enriched with elements of the (Ignatian)nimagination, with an emphasis on the experience of emotions andncontemplation of sin and the pains associated with it. Thisnshift was caused by the attempt to popularise the doctrine andnalso to reflect it more consistently in religious practice. Innthe study I also try to point out the specific contexts of thisnchange in the Catholic lands in the seventeenth century: thenquestion of charity and salvation, the reform of atonement andna more consistent typology of sins, an involvement of the laynbrotherhoods in introducing post-Tridentine principles intonreligious practice and the fundamental role of the themes ofnthe Eucharist and Christs Passion.