In the midst of the news about the pandemic, the science of the covid-19 virus, and the economic challenges the crisis has created, last week I came across an article in the British newspaper,
The Guardian
, that caught my attention because it wasn’t about any of those things.
The piece didn’t focus on anything going on now, instead it reported on some newly discovered manuscripts recording the property transactions of Cambridge's wealthiest medieval families. The records revealed that these 13th century people consistently gave away their earnings and assets for the sake of the larger community.
"It was one of the Hundred Rolls, a massive survey undertaken by the Crown similar to the
Domesday Book
. But it had been lost in the National Archives," said Dr. Catherine Casson, co-author of
Compassionate Capitalism
, a major new book on the subject. "The missing roll we found informed us about an area of Cambridge that no one had really looked at before."
The Guardian
reported, “The roll recorded the ownership history of property in the city and its suburbs over the preceding 100 years, enabling Casson to analyze 36 family dynasties and more than 1,000 properties.”
Casson noted, "It's very rare for this period of history to recreate any family trees, let alone 36."
The data showed many of Cambridge’s medieval entrepreneurs earned their living in trade or as administrators for religious institutions and government. But they wisely invested their spare cash in the Cambridge real estate market, which was booming in response to a new demand for student accommodation after the university was founded in 1209.
The fascinating thing that Catherine Casson has found is that most of these newly wealthy families in Cambridge gave away more than half of the profits they made from property development. "That's not because they had to, it's because they chose to," she said.
They funded almshouses and hospitals and schools. They built places such as the Leper Chapel, which was part of an isolation infirmary for people with leprosy. The building can still be seen in Cambridge today.
Making sense of the 13th century for the the 21st, Dr. Casson explains the selflessness of these medieval entrepreneurs in terms secular capitalists can understand. Providing financial support and a welfare infrastructure to the local community, Cambridge was a more attractive and economically successful place to live, study and bring up a family in the 13th century. "It was a mutually beneficial process," Casson said.
Understanding this uncommon generosity as enlightened self-interest may be as close as the modern world can come to making sense out of the radical unselfishness of these medieval entrepreneurs. But there is more to it than that. The 13th century entrepreneurs were faithful Christians.
It is natural for us to hold on to what we've got rather than to give it away. The writer Studs Terkel once noted that the typical American attitude is, "I've got it made because I deserve it. And if you don't have it made, you don't deserve it."
But Jesus has another point of view. Our Lord tells us that if we have two coats, we should give one away. Jesus calls those who follow him to have concern for those who have less. Over and over again. the church tells us story after story after story from the Old and New Testaments and the lives of the saints that– most of what we have came to us, not through our hard work, but as a gift of God, grace. We have what we have in trust. We are assigned responsibility for others beyond our immediate family.
Moreover, the Incarnation come to pass among those on the bottom. Poor shepherds working the night shift were first to get the news that a poor, unwed Jewish woman was bearing Emmanuel into the world. Old people once made silent -- Simeon and Anna -- were the first to sing. These economically and socially insignificant types were the first to be told by God of "God with us".
If we want to be faithful to the God manifest In Jesus of Nazareth, we will have to look to the old, the poor, the disposed, the sick, and suffering. Moreover, our faithfulness will be measured by our care and generosity to those who have less than we do. Our Lord tells us, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”
The prophets of Israel spoke of those who do right because the law of God is "written on their hearts." They don't live by the book. They do what they do because it is so much a part of who they are, their very being. Generosity was part and parcel of who those 13th century entrepreneurs were as faithful Christians. It’s what it means to follow Christ.
In the midst of this 21st century crisis, vestry member Mary Ann Cook encouraged The Church of St. Michael & St. George to become involved with the Behavioral Health Network’s effort to collect food for distribution to those who do not have enough to eat. One of the north St. Louis churches recently wrote back to us saying: “Thank you so much for the food and supplies you dropped off. We sincerely appreciate your generosity and you bringing them to us. Your support will help us contribute to more families. Thank you for your kindness.”
We undertake this ministry not because we are soft-hearted liberals, or as part of a plan to make St. Louis a better place. –No, it's because we really believe that Jesus Christ is the whole truth about God and about who we are meant to be.
The Church of 13th century Cambridge, England, produced generations of Christians whose faith is discernable in these newly discovered documents. They remind us that in every century, the Church will be judged on the basis of our fidelity to the way of God made plain in Christ.
Andrew +
