Financing Poor Relief through Charitable Collections in Dutch Towns, c. 1600-1800

Financing Poor Relief through Charitable Collections in Dutch Towns, c. 1600-1800

In the Dutch Republic, charitable collections, which formed the financial backbone of many poor relief institutions, were regularly organised by both religious and secular authorities. This book examines both the policies of church boards and town councils in organising these charitable appeals, as well as the general population's giving behaviour. Using archival sources from the towns of Delft, Utrecht, Zwolle, and 's-Hertogenbosch, Daniëlle Teeuwen shows how these authorities deployed organisational and rhetorical tactics-including creating awareness, establishing trust, and exerting pressure-to successfully promote fundraising campaigns. Not only did many relief institutions manage to collect large annual sums, but contributions came from across the socioeconomic spectrum.
  • Cover
  • Table of Contents
  • 1. Introduction
    • Poor relief in the Dutch Republic
    • Research design
  • 2. Organizing poor relief
    • Reforming medieval social care
    • Poor relief in a Golden Age
    • The system under pressure
    • Conclusion
  • 3. Financing outdoor poor relief
    • Income
      • Collections and alms boxes
      • Testamentary bequests and inter vivos gifts
      • Income from capital and real estate
      • Subsidies
      • Developments in the financing of poor relief over time
      • Tolerated religious charities
    • Expenditure
      • Financial management
      • Balancing income and expenditure
    • Crisis management
    • Conclusion
  • 4. Organizing collections
    • Types and frequency
    • Regulation and control
    • Between nudge and obligation
    • Conclusion
  • 5. The rhetoric of giving
    • Perceptions of poverty and charity
    • Civic exhortations to give
      • Charity as a civic and religious duty
      • Methods of persuasion
    • Religious exhortations to give
      • Preaching in the early modern period
      • Views on wealth and poverty
      • Charity as a Christian duty
      • Guidelines for giving
    • Conclusion
  • 6. Donating to collections
    • The donors
    • Collection gifts
      • Effective policies
      • The boundaries of voluntarism
      • Paying for poor relief
    • Conclusion
  • 7. Conclusion
    • Financing poor relief in the Dutch Republic
    • Encouraging charitable giving
    • Donating to collections
    • Differences between localities and developments over time
    • Explaining the success of charitable collections in the Dutch Republic
  • Notes
  • Appendices
    • A Financial administration of poor relief institutions
    • B Income of poor relief institutions
    • C Income of poor relief institutions corrected for inflation
    • D Sermons and religious writings
  • Bibliography
  • Index

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