A Research On Medieval Canonical Poor Law

The poor relief led by the Catholic Church was in full flourish in Medieval Europe. As a supernational community, the Church greatly expanded its charity. To ensure the efficiency of charity, the Church enacted and promulgated laws to regulate poor relief. Meanwhile, the medieval canonists were keen on the study of the problem of poverty and the poor. They commented on the canonical collections in order to elaborate their thoughts and theories, which greatly enriched the content of canon law. This paper is targeted at medieval canonical poor law, trying to study its form, content and historical influence.In addition to the Introduction and Conclusion, the paper is divided into five chapters. The Introduction raises three questions. What is medieval canonical poor law? What are its contents? How does it have an impact on later generations? In order to clearly grasp the problem, the paper tries to define the concepts of medieval canon as well as poor law. The canon law studied in this article refers to the law of the medieval Catholic Church. The poor law does not exist as a separate legal department in canon law. But it does not mean that there is no law concerning on poor relief. In fact, such kind of law scattered in various parts of the canonical collections. The canons listed under various subject categories often have a same theme related to the content of the poor law. In studying canon law, one should not divide it into independent legal problems but should study it as a whole. The canon law has a strong theoretical characteristic, which is embodied in the inseparability of the legal texts and the commentaries of medieval canonists. Both of them should be discussed while studying the canonical poor law. Besides, the dispersion and the relevance of canons also influence canonists’ commentaries. Therefore, in the study of the canonical poor law, the canonists’ theories should also be taken into consideration.Chapter 1 focuses on the word POVERTY in the canonical context first. Illustrated by the biblical selections, the monastic movement, patristic literature, the thoughts of Bernard of Clairvaux and of Francis of Assisi who represented the mendicants, the paper demonstrates the traditional concept of the Church on poverty. The medieval canonists inheriting this tradition concept, elaborated on this issue from the perspective of jurisprudence. They noted that the traditional concept of poverty emphasized the voluntary poverty which could bring virtues, while they pay more attention to the involuntary as a result of basic needs of life. But they did not denounce the involuntary poverty. In their view, poverty is not a shameful mark. It is not a crime. Their discussions on whether poverty is a crime or not lead to the issue of the protection of the poor. Chapter 1 also focuses on the protection of the rights of the poor to access to justice and to education. By the creation of two principles ‐ "miserabiles personae" and "ex defectu justitiae" ‐ the canonists put the poor under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The poor "miserabiles personae" may get access to the ecclesiastical protection. Compared to other ordinary litigants, the poor may turn to the ecclesiastical authorities in the initial stages of the proceedings without the need to exhaust all secular remedies. In addition to these two principles, the ecclesiastical legislators and the canonists also tried to create other judicial relief for the poor, e.g. to provide help for those who could not afford to hire an attorney, to allow clergies take part into secular courts on behalf of the poor and to exempt the expenses to invite witnesses to testify in court. They also concerned about the socio‐economic rights of the poor, such as the right to education. Canon law provides financial help for poor students so as to ensure them to complete their studies successfully in the cathedral schools.Chapter 2 focuses on the property right of the poor. By pointing out the conflict among the private property, the ancient ecclesiastical authorities and natural law, this chapter introduces canonists’ solution to the dilemma. Canonists in the 12 th century started from the definition of natural law. They divided it into mandates, prohibitions and demonstrations. The private property belongs to the demonstrations. Canonists in the 13 th century creatively tried to interpret what is the common property. They stated that the public property means the share of property in the time of need. They grafted the theory of property rights to the poor law successfully. The canonists did not deny the private property. They thought people could accumulate wealth while there is no time of need. But once others have their need, their assets must be brought to be shared. The canonists encouraged people to offer their necessities of life to poor relief. They even thought that theft by force of poverty was not a crime. Furthermore, the canonists concerned on the poor’s right to the church property. The church property is given to the entire church community. The clergies exercise only the power of management, and the poor have a right to get help from the church property.Chapter 3 focuses on the theory of charity. By discussion on the biblical selections, this chapter analyses the motive of charity. The practice of charity is not only for the purpose of love, but also a responsibility to avoid being condemned, and an obligation in order to have a place in the promised blessed land. The giver and the receiver are the core subject of charity. As for the giver, the canonists preached an effective almsgiving must contain three elements ‐ the quality of alms, the giver’s behavior and his intentions. Alms acquired illegally were used to be prohibited to be given. But for the purpose of common welfare, the canonists clear the legal barrier by using the terms of Roman law technically. The giver should not distribute all his property once, but little by little, so that more people may get help. The giver should also clear his heart, and be full of charity. The poor as receiver has a natural right to obtain relief. But not all of them are qualified to obtain that right. Depending on whether the resources available suffice or not, the canon law and canonists have set down rules of alms treatment in detail according to the receivers’ different qualifications.Chapter 4 focuses on the legal problems of institutions of poor relief. Canon law set basic rules for the three institutions ‐ parishes, monasteries and hospitals. Parishes as replacements of dioceses in the High Middle Ages played a role of poor relief. 4 Bishopswho used to be the hosts of poor relief turned to be the role of supervisors. The parochial priests became the actual person responsible for the poor relief. On the one hand, canon law justified the rationality of this change. On the other hand, it tried to prevent the abuses of parochial revenues which should be used for the poor. As for the monasteries, the church prohibits their misuses of revenues through the appropriation of a parish. The legislation on hospitals began after 14 th century. Canon law concentrates on the negligence of the hosts and their abuse of endowments against the purposes of establishment of hospitals.Chapter 5 focuses on the decline of the medieval canonical poor law in the late Middle Ages and its impact on the secular poor law. Since the mid‐14th century, European population experienced a sudden drop. The outbreak of the Black Death gave a heavy blow to European society. A large number of rural peasants flows into cities and towns, resulting the decline of traditional manor system. In its struggle against the secular regimes, the church lost its glory. The canonists, while discussing on issues related to the poor, showed no progress in the theories of their predecessors. They also contributed no answers to the practical problems such as the vagrants. The ecclesiastical practices of poor relief also faced difficulties. The problem of appropriation gave constant damage to the parochial poor relief. The dissolution of the monasteries lead to the decline of their poor relief. Hosts of hospitals corrupted. Meanwhile, the secular legislation of poor relief are in full swing. Although recession, the canonical poor law still influenced on the secular poor laws, especially on English Poor Law. The emphasis on the responsibility of the poor relief, allowing the use of public power to ensure the smooth implementation of the poor relief, compulsory almsgiving, discriminate charity and rejection to the able‐bodied vagrants can be traced back to the canonical tradition. Finally, this chapter also scanned the poor law in 1917 and 1983 codes. Although with few articles, these two codes reflect the legal tradition of medieval church in the modern time.The Conclusion reviews the full paper and tries to explore the pros and cons of medieval canonical poor law. Any law, regardless of how perfectly drafted, may not achieve its goal if the administration policy is contradicted with its spirit and purpose. Legislation should not be apart from practice. Otherwise, it may be seriously out of step with the times. Such lessons are as relevant for 21 th century as for the Middle Ages.