| In recent years historians of early modern Europe have devoted considerable attention to reforms and changes in the administration of poor relief and social welfare. These developments have often been linked to the spread of Protestantism, which theoretically fostered the secularizing and work-oriented tendencies of welfare reforms. However, recently historians have shown that welfare reformers responded more to humanist ideas and socioeconomic crises than to religious ideology. Since studies of this nature have been infrequent, the causes and patterns of welfare reform need to be more clearly defined and identified through comparative study.;Both institutions were secularized, which in the case of the Hotel-Dieu involved a lengthy dispute between town and ecclesiastical authorities. While direct Protestant influence cannot be proven, the reform of the hospital was largely carried out by zealous Protestant administrators, who assumed complete control during the First Religious War, but relinquished it thereafter, a pattern which mirrored events in Orleans itself. The Aumone-Generale was relatively untouched by religious strife, but its creation signaled major administrative changes, mainly in the consolidation of existing charitable institutions, which were placed under the jurisdiction of a central Aumone. The Aumone-Generale faced continuous financial uncertainty, mostly because of its reliance on a voluntary poor tax.;As elsewhere, the Orleans reforms were caused by social and economic factors. Humanist and Protestant ideas were present, but direct influence cannot be demonstrated. Of particular significance was the role of the central government and the reform of welfare institutions in Paris. The result was a more rational and efficient use of resources, particularly in the Hotel-Dieu, where a corrupt and bankrupt administration was replaced by aggressive secular administrators and a balanced budget. Although the administration of the Hotel-Dieu was affected by religious controversy, the services to the poor were not. The Aumone's program included weekly alms, lodging, public works and apprenticeships, all of which were similar to poor relief schemes in other cities. Finally, the attitude of the authorities toward the poor hardened in the face of mounting financial woes.;"Poor Relief and Reform in Sixteenth-Century Orleans" is such a work. Orleans was chosen because of its prominence as a university town and a center of humanism and Protestantism. Also, documents from the Archives hospitalieres survived a destructive fire during World War II. They contain administrative and financial records of the Hotel-Dieu, which underwent a major reform in 1558, and the Aumone-Generale, created by royal fiat in 1555. |
