Caritas, a form of grace that turned our love for our neighbour into a spiritual practice, was expected of all early modern Christians, and corresponded with a set of ethical rules for living that displayed one's love in the everyday. Caritas was not just a willingness to behave morally, to keep the peace, and to uphold social order however, but was expected to be felt as a strong passion, like that of a parent to a child. Caritas: Neighbourly
Love and the Early Modern Self explores the importance of caritas to early modern communities, introducing the concept of the 'emotional ethic' to explain how neighbourly love become not only a code for moral living but a
part of felt experience. As an emotional ethic, caritas was an embodied norm, where physical feeling and bodily practices guided right action, and was practiced in the choices and actions of everyday life. Using a case study of the Scottish lower orders, this book highlights how caritas shaped relationships between men and women, families, and the broader community. Focusing on marriage, childhood and youth, 'sinful sex', privacy and secrecy, and
hospitality towards the itinerant poor, Caritas provides a rich analysis of the emotional lives of the poor and the embodied moral framework that guided their behaviour. Charting the period 1660 to 1830, it highlights how
caritas evolved in response to the growing significance of romantic love, as well as new ideas of social relation between men, such as fraternity and benevolence.
Caritas, a form of grace that turned our love for our neighbour into a spiritual practice, was expected of all early modern Christians, and corresponded with a set of ethical rules for living that displayed one's love in the everyday. Caritas was not just a willingness to behave morally, to keep the peace, and to uphold social order however, but was expected to be felt as a strong passion, like that of a parent to a child. Caritas: Neighbourly
Love and the Early Modern Self explores the importance of caritas to early modern communities, introducing the concept of the 'emotional ethic' to explain how neighbourly love become not only a code for moral living but a
part of felt experience. As an emotional ethic, caritas was an embodied norm, where physical feeling and bodily practices guided right action, and was practiced in the choices and actions of everyday life. Using a case study of the Scottish lower orders, this book highlights how caritas shaped relationships between men and women, families, and the broader community. Focusing on marriage, childhood and youth, 'sinful sex', privacy and secrecy, and
hospitality towards the itinerant poor, Caritas provides a rich analysis of the emotional lives of the poor and the embodied moral framework that guided their behaviour. Charting the period 1660 to 1830, it highlights how
caritas evolved in response to the growing significance of romantic love, as well as new ideas of social relation between men, such as fraternity and benevolence.
Introduction
1: The Loving Community
2: Learning to Love
3: The Limits of Love
4: Promoting Harmony
5: Living Outside of Love
Conclusion
Katie Barclay is Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in
the History of Emotions and Associate Professor in History,
University of Adelaide. She is the author of Love, Intimacy and
Power: Marriage and Patriarchy in Scotland, 1650-1850 (2011); Men
on Trial: Performing Emotion, Embodiment and Identity In Ireland,
1800-1845 (2019), and numerous edited collections, articles, and
book chapters in the area of the history of emotion, family
life and gender. With Andrew Lynch and Giovanni Tarantino, she
edits Emotions: History, Culture, Society.
With Caritas: Neighbourly Love and the Early Modern Self, Barclay
offers a sensitive and thorough account of social life in
eighteenth-century Scotland...Shuttling between public customs and
private experiences, Barclay's nuanced examination of the
interchange between the communal norms of caritas and the
construction of the self is persuasive and provocative.
*Evan Gurney, University of North Carolina, Journal of British
Studies*
Caritas is a sensitively researched and sophisticated book, and
will be of interest to students and scholars interested in the
lives of ordinary people during the early modern period...The
clearest strength of this book is that Barclay shines a light on a
broad section of Scottish society who have traditionally been
overlooked - from illegitimate children striving for parental love
and affection to wandering travellers seeking shelter, comfort, and
acceptance far from home.
*Rebecca Mason, The Journal of the Social History Society*
There are many themes in this book that will be of interest to
historians working on marriage, childhood and youth, pregnancy,
infanticide and rape. There are also fascinating insights into
notions of privacy and secrecy, and the practices of neighbourhood
socialising, gossip and drinking. Barclay excels at uncovering the
details of the lives of the poor, and these are dispersed
throughout the book, through brief examples as well as more
extended life stories.
*Elizabeth Foyster, University of Cambridge, Family & Community
History*
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
