J. Ward 
Culture, Faith, and Philanthropy 
Londoners and Provincial Reform in Early Modern England

Empowered by new wealth and by their faith, early modern Londoners began to use philanthropy to assert their cultural authority in distant parts of the nation. Culture, Faith, and Philanthropy analyzes how disputes between London and provincial authorities over such benefactions demonstrated the often tense relations between center and periphery.

Table of Content

Introduction: Culture, Faith, and Philanthropy in Early Modern England PART I: FAITH, PHILANTHROPY, AND LONDON’S MORAL ECONOMY 1. ‘And let our hearts be softned to the Poor’: Personal Ambition and the Metropolitan Moral Economy 2. ‘God hath bestowed that upon me’: How Simon Eyre Made His Fortune 3. ‘[A]s the Lord had decreed’: The Metamorphosis of Richard Whittington PART II: FAITH, PHILANTHROPY, AND PROVINCIAL REFORM 4. ‘[R]emember the place of our Nativity’: Godly Londoners, Livery Companies, and Provincial Reform 5. ‘[B]ring this Trojan Horse … into their Countrey’: William Jones, London Haberdashers, and the Reformation of Monmouth 6. ‘[A] distant and alien control’: Henry Colbron, London Drapers, and the Reformation of Kirkham 7. Conclusion: London and National Reform

About the author

Joseph P. Ward is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of History of the University of Mississippi, USA. His previous publications include Metropolitan Communities: Trade Guilds, Identity and Change in Early Modern London and, with Robert Bucholz, London: A Social and Cultural History, 1550-1750.