This account of medieval philanthropy books at the late medieval aristocracy as a social, rather than a political group, and analyses an aspect of their voluntary behaviour, their gift giving to the Church. In the course of his study, Dr. Rosenthal clears up many of the current misconception about the nature of charity in the Middle Ages. He points out, for example, that the great endowments -- like Ewelme and Pembroke Hall, Cambridge --...