본문 바로가기
  • Home

Symbol of poverty in the wills of ecclesiastics in the 16th and 17th centuries

  • Korean Review of French History
  • Abbr : KRFH
  • 2006, (15), pp.29~59
  • Publisher : KOREAN SOCIETY FOR FRENCH HISTORY
  • Research Area : Humanities > History

LEE SONG JAE 1

1충남대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The symbolic representations of poverty and the polysemy of the “poor” help understanding the origin and the ideology of the charitable activities of the testators at that time. The power of the symbol is related to the continuity of mentalities concerning the positive poverty. With regard to the donors, the symbolic nature of gifts and the “magic” numbers are situated in the same context. The distribution of the bread, the wine, the clothing, the bed and the book, and the existence of the number five(five wounds of Jesus), seven(seven charities), twelve, thirteen(twelve disciples + Jesus) and thirty three (age of Jesus), are reflections of a symbolic system of the faith and liturgy in the wills. Where can we find the influence of “enfermement” and the change of the behaviors towards the poor? Can we simply call upon the character of the testamentary discourse? This charity, related to one particular moment, namely that of the confrontation between the man, more particularly the priest, and the death, is a phenomenon in which the positive image of the poor persists incontestably.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.