Awards

• Winner of Ohio Academy of History Publication Award (United States).
• Winner of Ohio Academy of History Publication Award 2020 (United States)

Overview

In The Medieval Economy of Salvation, Adam J. Davis shows how the burgeoning commercial economy of western Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, alongside an emerging culture of Christian charity, led to the establishment of hundreds of hospitals and leper houses. Focusing on the county of Champagne, he looks at the ways in which charitable organizations and individuals-townspeople, merchants, aristocrats, and ecclesiastics-saw in these new institutions a means of infusing charitable giving and service with new social significance and heightened expectations of spiritual rewards. In tracing the rise of the medieval hospital during a period of intense urbanization and the transition from a gift economy to a commercial one, Davis makes clear how embedded this charitable institution was in the wider social, cultural, religious, and economic fabric of medieval life.

Full Product Details

9781501755248

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Reviews

This is a meticulously researched study of an important are of medieval life. Adam J. Davis,an expert historian of medieval religion, locates his work in the context of various scholarly debates and draws on an exhaustive range of English and French sources. The Medieval Economy of Salvation provides a scholarly insight into medieval hospitals and their relationships with the wider society. Davis teases out the twisted strands of complex realities with a marvellously expert hand. The reward for the reader is not just to understand more about the medieval mindset and hospitals, but to appreciate how much there is to know. -- Judith Godden, University of Sydney * Health and history * . On this episode of River to River, guest host Rick Brewer is joined by historian Adam Davis to unpack the history of hospitals in medieval Europe and help us see the modern parallels of these systems and institutions. One of the many comparisons Davis makes to our modern hospital system is the emergence of medieval hospitals as 'big business.' -- Rick Brewer, Iowa Public Radio * Iowa Public Radio,'River to River' *

. This is a meticulously researched study of an important are of medieval life. Adam J. Davis,an expert historian of medieval religion, locates his work in the context of various scholarly debates and draws on an exhaustive range of English and French sources. The Medieval Economy of Salvation provides a scholarly insight into medieval hospitals and their relationships with the wider society. Davis teases out the twisted strands of complex realities with a marvellously expert hand. The reward for the reader is not just to understand more about the medieval mindset and hospitals, but to appreciate how much there is to know. -- Judith Godden, University of Sydney * Health and history *

A meticulously researched study of an important area of medieval life. Adam J. Davis, an expert historian of medieval religion, locates his work in the context of various scholarly debates and draws on an exhaustive range of English and French sources. The Medieval Economy of Salvation provides a scholarly insight into medieval hospitals and their relationships with the wider society. Davis teases out the twisted strands of complex realities with a marvelously expert hand. The reward for the reader is not just to understand more about the medieval mindset and hospitals, but to appreciate how much there is to know. * Health and History * The Medieval Economy of Salvation... is a pleasurable read suited to both the scholar and enthusiast alike. Adam J. Davis brings to light the importance of the medieval hospital and its link to social, religious and economic changes in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. * Social History of Medicine *

Author Information

Adam J. Davis is Professor of History and Director of the Lisska Center for Scholarly Engagement at Denison University. He is the author of The Holy Bureaucrat. Follow him on X @AdamJDavis2.

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