From Gifts for Salvation of the Soul to the Secular Charity: Gifts on the Wills of the Royal Officers to Paris and Parisians

Abstract

The article shows the dynamics of the development of medieval society through changes in the composition of orders on the wills of secular persons. These changes are investigated on the basis of the corps of wills of royal officers from the archives of the Parlement of Paris. Initially, medieval wills were purely spiritual and were designed to ensure the salvation of the soul of the testator through gifts for church services and charity. By the end of the 14th — beginning of the 15th century in wills were appeared donations in favor of the city of Paris and its inhabitants. The money goes to churches and parishes, almshouses and hospitals, poor people, widows, unmarried women, prisoners and students. This purely secular charity testifies to the perception of the capital of the French kingdom as a united community. Testaments show the expansion of the topography of charitable institutions in the capital of France. Royal officers range themselves as protectors of the common good and follow this rhetoric in their wills.