Charity and Economy in the Orphanages of Early Modern Augsburg

In 1572, during period of catastrophic inflation in the Free Imperial City of Augsburg, many fled the city in search of work, leaving children behind. A great manufacturing and mercantile centre, Augsburg decreed the founding of a city orphanage, one of the earliest in Europe and the first in Germany, as an attempt to make poor relief more efficient. The consequences of this decision provoked a number of questions about the changing nature of charity in the early modern period and its historical interpretation. This study examines the complex interrelationship among charity, confession and capital in the Augsburg orphanages - offering a revision of current historical scholarship on poor relief, social discipline, organizational building and the advent of capitalism