CHAPTER VII_Mediaeval Socialism

THE THEORY OF ALMSGIVING

Any description of mediaeval socialistic ideals which contained no

reference to mediaeval notions of almsgiving would not be complete.

Almsgiving was for them a necessary corollary to their theories of

private possession. In the passage already quoted from St. Thomas

Aquinas (p. 45), wherein he sets forth the theological aspect of

property, he makes use of a broad distinction between what he calls "the

power of procuring and dispensing" exterior things and "the use of

them." We have already at some length tried to show what economists then

meant by this first "power." Now we must establish the significance of

what they intended by the second. And to do this the more clearly it

will be as well to repeat the words in which St. Thomas briefly notes

it: "The other office which is man's concerning exterior things is the

use of them; and with regard to this a man ought not to hold exterior

things as his own, but as common to all, that he may portion them out

readily to others in time of need."

In this sentence is summed up the whole mediaeval concept of the law of

almsdeeds. Private property is allowed--is, in fact, necessary for human

life--but on certain conditions. These imply that the possession of

property belongs to the individual, but also that the use of it is not

limited to him. The property is private, the use should be common.

Indeed, it is only this common enjoyment which at all justifies private

possession. It was as obvious then as now that there were inequalities

in life, that one man was born to ease or wealth, or a great name,

whereas another came into existence without any of these advantages,

perhaps even hampered by positive disadvantages. Henry of Langenstein

(1325-1397) in his famous _Tractatus de Contractibus_ (published among

the works of Gerson at Cologne, 1484, tom. iv. fol. 188), draws out this

variety of fortune and misfortune in a very detailed fashion, and puts

before his reader example after example of what they were then likely to

have seen. But all the while he has his reason for so doing. He

acknowledges the fact, and proceeds from it to build up his own

explanation of it. The world is filled with all these men in their

differing circumstances. Now, to make life possible for them, he asserts

that private property is necessary. He is very energetic in his

insistence upon that point. Without private property he thinks that

there will be continual strife in which might, and not right, will have

the greater probability of success. But simultaneously, and as a

corrective to the evils which private property of itself would cause

there should be added to it the condition of common use. That is to say,

that although I own what is mine, yet I should put no obstacle in the

way of its reasonable use by others. This is, of course, really the

ideal of Aristotle in his book of _Politics_, when he makes his reply to

Plato's communism. In Plato's judgment, the republic should be governed

in the reverse way, _Common property and private use_; he would really

make this, which is a feature of monastic life, compulsory on all. But

Aristotle, looking out on the world, an observer of human nature, a

student of the human heart, sets up as more feasible, more practical,

the phrase which the Middle Ages repeat, _Private property and common

use_. The economics of a religious house are hardly of such a kind,

thought the mediaevalists, as to suit the ways and fancies of this

workaday world.

But the Middle Ages do not simply repeat, they Christianise Aristotle.

They are dominated by his categories of thought, but they perfect them

in the light of the New Dispensation. Faith is added to politics, love

of the brotherhood is made to extend the mere brutality of the

economists' teaching. In "common use" they find the philosophic name for

"almsdeeds." "A man ought not to hold exterior things as his own, but as

common to all, that he may portion them out readily to others in time of

need." This sentence, an almost literal translation from the _Book of

Politics_, takes on a fuller meaning and is softened by the

unselfishness of Christ when it is found in the _Summa Theologica_ of

Aquinas.

Let us take boldly the passage from St. Thomas in which he lays down the

law of almsgiving.

(2_a_, 2_ae_, 32, 5.) "Since love of one's neighbour is commanded us, it

follows that everything without which that love cannot be preserved, is

also commanded us. But it is essential to the love of one's neighbour,

not merely to wish him well, but to act well towards him; as says St.

John (1 Ep. 3), 'Let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and

in truth.' But to wish and to act well towards anyone implies that we

should succour him when he is in need, and this is done by almsgiving.

Hence almsgiving is a matter of precept. But because precepts are given

in things that concern virtuous living, the almsgiving here referred to

must be of such a kind as shall promote virtuous living. That is to say,

it must be consonant with right reason; and this in turn implies a

twofold consideration, namely, from the point of view of the giver, and

from that of the receiver. As regards the giver, it must be noted that

what is given should not be necessary to him, as says St. Luke 'That

which is superfluous, give in alms.' And by 'not necessary' I mean not

only to himself (_i.e._ what is over and above his individual needs),

but to those who depend on him. For a man must first provide for himself

and those of whom he has the care, and can then succour such of the rest

as are necessitous--that is, such as are without what their personal

needs entail. For so, too, nature provides that nutrition should be

communicated first to the body, and only secondly to that which is to be

begotten of it. As regards the receiver, it is required that he should

really be in need, else there is no reason for alms being given him. But

since it is impossible for one man to succour all who are in need, he is

only under obligation to help such as cannot otherwise be provided for.

For in this case the words of Ambrose become applicable: 'Feed them

that are dying of starvation, else shall you be held their murderer.'

Hence it is a matter of precept to give alms to whosoever is in extreme

necessity. But in other cases (namely, where the necessity is not

extreme) almsgiving is simply a counsel, and not a command."

(_Ad_ 2_m._) "Temporal goods which are given a man by God are his as

regards their possession, but as regards their use, if they should be

superfluous to him, they belong also to others who may be provided for

out of them. Hence St. Basil says: 'If you admit that God gave these

temporal goods to you, is God unjust in thus unequally distributing His

favours? Why should you abound, and another be forced to beg, unless it

is intended thereby that you should merit by your generosity, and he by

his patience? For it is the bread of the starving that you cling to; it

is the clothes of the naked that hang locked in your wardrobe; it is the

shoes of the barefooted that are ranged in your room; it is the silver

of the needy that you hoard. For you are injuring whoever is in want.'

And Ambrose repeats the same thing."

Here it will be noticed that we find the real meaning of those words

about a man's duty of portioning out readily to another's use what

belongs to himself. It is the correlative to the right to private

property.

But a second quotation must be made from another passage closely

following on the preceding:

"There is a time when to withhold alms is to commit mortal sin. Namely,

when on the part of the receiver there is evident and urgent necessity,

and he does not seem likely to be provided for otherwise, and when on

the part of the giver he has superfluities of which he has not any

probable immediate need. Nor should the future be in question, for this

would be looking to the morrow, which the Master has forbidden (Matt.

6)."

(_Ibid._, 32, 6.) "But 'superfluous' and 'necessity' are to be

interpreted according to their most probable and generally accepted

meaning. 'Necessary' has two meanings. First, it implies something

without which a thing cannot exist. Interpreted in this sense, a man has

no business to give alms out of what is necessary to him; for example,

if a man has only enough wherewith to feed himself and his sons or

others dependent on him. For to give alms out of this would be to

deprive himself and his of very life, unless it were indeed for the sake

of prolonging the life of someone of extreme importance to Church and

State. In that case it might be praiseworthy to expose his life and the

lives of others to grave risk, for the common good is to be preferred to

our own private interests. Secondly, 'necessary' may mean that without

which a person cannot be considered to uphold becomingly his proper

station, and that of those dependent on him. The exact measure of this

necessity cannot be very precisely determined, as to how far things

added may be beyond the necessity of his station, or things taken away

be below it. To give alms, therefore, out of these is a matter not of

precept, but of counsel. For it would not be right to give alms out of

these, so as to help others, and thereby be rendered unable to fulfil

the obligations of his state of life. For no one should live

unbecomingly. Three exceptions, however, should be made. First, when a

man wishes to change his state of life. Thus it would be an act of

perfect virtue if a man, for the purpose of entering a religious order,

distributed to the poor for Christ's sake all that he possessed.

Secondly, when a man gives alms out of what is necessary for his state

of life, and yet does so knowing that they can very easily be supplied

to him again without much personal inconvenience. Thirdly, when some

private person, still more when the State itself, is in the gravest

need. In these cases it would be most praiseworthy for a man to give

what seemingly was required for the upkeep of his station in life in

order to provide against some far greater need."

From these passages it will be possible to construct the theory in vogue

during the whole of the Middle Ages. The landholder was considered to

possess his property on a system of feudal tenure, and to be obliged

thereby to certain acts of suit and service to his immediate lord, or

eventually to the King. But besides these burdens which the

responsibility of possession entailed, there were others incumbent on

him, because of his brotherhood with all Christian folk. He owed a debt,

not merely to his superiors, but also to his equals. Such was the

interpretation of Christ's commandment which the mediaeval theologians

adopted. With one voice they declare that to give away to the needy what

is superfluous is no act of charity, but of justice. St. Jerome's words

were often quoted: "If thou hast more than is necessary for thy food and

clothing, give that away, and consider that in thus acting thou art but

paying a debt" (Epist. 50 ad Edilia q. i.); and those others of St.

Augustine, "When superfluities are retained, it is the property of

others which is retained" (in Psalm 147). These and like sayings of the

Fathers constitute the texts on which the moral economic doctrine of

what is called the Scholastic School is based. Albertus Magnus (vol. iv.

in Sent. 4, 14, p. 277, Lyons, 1651) puts to himself the question

whether to give alms is a matter of justice or of charity, and the

answer which he makes is compressed finally into this sentence: "For a

man to give out of his superfluities is a mere act of justice, because

he is rather the steward of them for the poor than the owner." St.

Thomas Aquinas is equally explicit, as another short sentence shall show

(2_a_, 2_ae_, 66, 2, _ad_ 3_m_): "When Ambrose says 'Let no one call his

own that which is common property,' he is referring to the use of

property. Hence he adds: 'Whatever a man possesses above what is

necessary for his sufficient comfort, he holds by violence.'" And the

same view could be backed by quotations from Henry of Ghent, Duns

Scotus, St. Bonaventure, the sermons of Wycliff, and almost every writer

of any consequence in that age.

Perhaps to us this decided tone may appear remarkable, and even

ill-considered. But it is evident that the whole trouble lies in the

precise meaning to be attached to the expressions "superfluous" and

"needy." And here, where we feel most of all the need of guidance, it

must be confessed that few authors venture to speak with much

definiteness. The instance, indeed, of a man placed in extreme

necessity, all quote and explain in nearly identical language. Should

anyone be reduced to these last circumstances, so as to be without means

of subsistence or sufficient wealth to acquire them, he may, in fact

must, take from anywhere whatever suffices for his immediate

requirements. If he begs for the necessities of life, they cannot be

withheld from him. Nor is the expression "necessities of life" to be

interpreted too nicely. Says Albertus Magnus: "I mean by necessary not

that without which he cannot live, but that also without which he cannot

maintain his household, or exercise the duties proper to his condition"

(_loc. cit._, art. 16, p. 280). This is a very generous interpretation

of the phrase, but it is the one pretty generally given by all the chief

writers of that period. Of course they saw at once that there were

practical difficulties in the way of such a manner of acting. How was it

possible to determine whether such a one was in real need or not? And

the only answer given was that, if it was evident that a man was so

placed, there could be no option about giving; almsdeeds then became of

precept. But that, if there were no convincing signs of absolute need,

then the obligation ceased, and almsgiving, from a command, became a

counsel.

In an instance of this extreme nature it is not difficult to decide, but

the matter becomes perilously complicated when an attempt is made to

gauge the relative importance of "need" and "superfluity" in concrete

cases. How much "need" must first be endured before a man has a just

claim on another's superfluity? By what standard are "superfluities"

themselves to be judged? For it is obvious that when the need among a

whole population is general, things possessed by the richer classes,

which in normal circumstances might not have been considered luxuries,

instantly become such. However then the words are taken, however

strictly or laxly interpreted, it must always be remembered that the

terms used by the Scholastics do not really solve the problem. They

suggest standards, but do not define them, give names, but cannot tell

us their precise meaning.

Should we say, then, that in this way they had failed? It is not in

place in a book of this kind to sit in judgment on the various theories

quoted, and test them to see how far they hold good, or to what extent

they should be disregarded, for it is the bare recital of mere historic

views which can be here considered. The object has been simply to tell

what systems were thought out and held, without attempting to apprize

them or measure their value, or point out how far they are applicable to

modern times. But in this affair of almsdeeds it is perhaps well to note

that the Scholastics could make this much defence of their vagueness. In

cases of this kind, they might say, we are face to face with human

nature, not as an abstract thing, but in its concrete personal

existence. The circumstances must therefore differ in each single

instance. General laws can be laid down, but only on the distinct

understanding that they are mere principles of direction--in other

words, that they are nothing more than general laws. The Scholastics,

the mediaeval writers of every school, except a few of that Manichean

brood of sects, admitted the necessity of almsgiving. They looked on it

from a moral point of view as a high virtue, and from an economic

standpoint as a correlative to their individualistic ideas on private

property. The one without the other would be unjust. Alone, they would

be unworkable; together, mutually independent, they would make the State

a fair and perfect thing.

But to fix the exact proportion between the two terms, they held to be

the duty of the individual in each case that came to his notice. To give

out of a man's superfluities to the needy was, they held, undoubtedly a

bounden duty. But they could make no attempt to apprize in definite

language what in the receiver was meant by need, and in the giver by

superfluity. They made no pretence to do this, and thereby showed their

wisdom, for obviously the thing cannot be done. Yet we must note, last

of all, that they drew up a list of principles which shall here be set

down, because they sum up in a few sentences the wit of mediaeval

economists, their spirit of orderly arrangement, and their unanimous

opinion on man's moral obligations.

(I) A man is obliged to help another in his extreme need, even at

the risk of grave inconvenience to himself.

(II) A man is obliged to help another who, though not in extreme

need, is yet in considerable distress, but not at the risk of grave

inconvenience to himself.

(III) A man is not obliged to help another whose necessity is

slight, even though the risk to himself should be quite trifling.

In other words, the need of his fellow must be adjusted against the

inconvenience to himself. Where the need of the one is great, the

inconvenience to the other must at least be as great, if it is to excuse

him from the just debt of his alms. His possession of superfluities does

not compel him to part with them unless there is some real want which

they can be expected to supply. In fine, the mediaevalists would contend

that almsgiving, to be necessary, implies two conditions, both

concomitant:--

(_a_) That the giver should possess superfluities.

(_b_) That the receiver should be in need.

Where both these suppositions are fulfilled, the duty of almsgiving

becomes a matter not of charity, but of justice.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Among the original works by mediaeval writers on economic subjects,

which can be found in most of the greater libraries in England, we would

place the following:

_De Recuperatione Terre Sancte_, by Pierre du Bois. Edited by C. V.

Langlois in Paris. 1891.

_Commentarium in Politicos Aristotelis_, by Albertus Magnus. Vol.

iv. Lyons. 1651.

_Summa Theologica_, of St. Thomas Aquinas. This is being translated

by the English Dominicans, published by Washborne. London. 1911.

But the parts that deal with Aquinas' theories of property, &c.,

have not yet been published.

_De Regimine Principio_, probably by Ptolomeo de Lucca. It will be

found printed among the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, who wrote the

first chapters. The portion here to be consulted is in book iv.

_Tractatus de Civili Dominio_, by Wycliff, published in four vols.

in London. 1885-1904.

_Unprinted Works of John Wycliff_, edited at Oxford in three vols.

1869-1871.

_Fasciculus Zizaniorum_ and the _Chronicon Angliae_, both edited in

the Roll Series, help in elucidating the exact meaning of Wycliff,

and his relation to the insurgents of 1381.

_Monarchia_, edited by Goldast of Hanover in 1611, gives a

collection of fifteenth-century writers, including Ockham, Cesena,

Roselli, &c.

_Summa Moralis_, by St. Antonino of Florence, contains a great deal

of economic moralising. But the whole four volumes (Verona, 1740)

must be searched for it.

Among modern books which can be consulted with profit are:--

_Illustrations of the Mediaeval Thought_, by Reginald Lane Poole.

1884. London.

_Political Theories of the Middle Ages_, by F. W. Maitland. 1900.

Cambridge.

_History of Mediaeval Political Thought_, by A. J. Carlyle. 1903.

&c. Oxford (unfinished).

_History of English Law_, by Pollock and Maitland. 1898. Cambridge.

_Introduction to English Economic History_, by W. J. Ashley. 1892.

London.

_Economie Politique au Moyen Age_, by V. Brandts. 1895. Louvain.

_La Propriété après St. Thomas_, by Mgr. Deploige, Revue

Neo-Scholastique. 1895, 1896. Louvain.

_History of Socialism_, by Thomas Kirkup. 1909. London.

_Great Revolt of 1381_, by C. W. C. Oman. 1906. Oxford.

_Lollardy and the Reformation_, by Gairdner. 1908-1911 (three

vols.) London.

_England in the Age of Wycliff_, by G. M. Trevelyan. 1909. London.

_Leaders of the People_, by J. Clayton. 1910. London. A sympathetic

account of Ball, Cade, &c.

_Social Organisation_, by G. Unwin. 1906. Oxford.

_Outlines of Economic History of England_, by H. O. Meredith. 1908.

London.

_Mutual Aid in a Mediaeval City_, by Prince Kropotkin (Nineteenth

Century Review. Vol. xxxvi. p. 198).

INDEX

Albertus Magnus, 51, 86, 87

Albigensians, 29

Almsgiving, 80

Ambrose, St., 10, 87

Antonino, St., 50, 52, 71, 80

Aquinas, St. Thomas, 30, 42, 51, 60, 79, 80, 83

Aristotle, 35, 42, 51, 64, 82

Augustine, St., 10, 86

Authority, 8, 10

Ball, John, 32, 38

Bavaria, Louis of, 32, 63

Beghards, 32

Beguins, 32

Benedict, St., 13

Black Death, 22

Bois, Pierre du, 62, 69

Bonaventure, St., 87

Bourbon, Etienne de, 29

Bracton, 59

Cabochiens, 71

Cesena, Michael de, 32

Ciompi, 25, 71

Communism, 29

Destitution, 71

Dominicans, 30, 39, 47

Education, 76

Fall, 9

Fathers of Church, 8

Feudalism, 15, 56

Francis, St., 31

Franciscans, 30, 31, 39

Friars, 39

Froissart, 33

Ghent, Henry of, 87

Harrington, 79

Hildebrand, 10

Hospitals, 75

Innocent IV, 64

Jacquerie, 25, 71

Jerome, St., 86

John XXII, 32, 63

King, 15, 56

Labourers, landless, 19, 27

Langenstein, Henry of, 81

Langland, 27, 39

Law of Nations, 11

Law of Nature, 11

Lawyers, 55

Legalists, 11

Lucca, Ptolomeo de, 51

Maillotins, 71

Manicheans, 29

Manor, 71

Marcel, Etienne, 71

Meziers, Philip de, 64

Milton, 79

Moerbeke, 42

Monasticism, 13

More, Sir Thomas, 79

Necessities, 83

Ockham, 32, 49, 63

Oresme, Nichole, 64

Parliament, 43

Peasant Revolt, 25, 32, 71

Plato, 35, 52, 82

_Praetor Peregrinus_, 11

_Praetor Urbanus_, 11

Property, 10, 12, 29, 41, 80

Rienzi, 71

Ripa, John de, 50

Roselli, Antonio, 65

Schoolmen, 41, 88

Scotus, Duns, 49, 80, 87

Slavery, 10

Socialism, 6, 16, 60

Straw, Jack, 34, 39

Superfluities, 83

Taborites, 71

Taxation, 76

Tyler, Wat, 34

Vaudois, 29

Wages, 23, 25, 74

Women, 70, 73

Wycliff, 35, 49, 60, 62, 80, 87

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