Intertwining the social and religious aspects of the tables of the poor
Tables of the poor
A table of the poor, or a of the Holy Ghost, was a parochial institution in the Middle Ages that provided food parcels for the poor of the parish.
Bread, eggs, fish and butter, among others, were regularly distributed among the needy. In addition, clothes, shoes and fuel in winter were also provided by these institutions. In the lack of an official safety net, these in-kind distributions were a necessary supplement to income.
Funds for these distributions were provided by the wealthy residents of the parish. For them, this was primarily a religiously inspired act. In this lecture, we unravel the intertwining social and religious aspects of these medieval food distributions.
Divine Dishes
An exhibition by the Ruusbroec Institute on food as story, care, covenant and celebration
The exhibition draws from the Ruusbroec Institute’s rich collection and highlights different functions of food in the Middle Ages: Food as story, care, covenant and celebration.
After the lecture, you can visit the exhibition in the Ruusbroec Society’s library. Please note: the number of places for the visit is limited.
!! The places for the visit to the expo right after the lecure are now full. However, you can still join the waiting list or visit the exhibition at another time.
Dr. Hannelore Franck
Scientific researcher at Yper Museum
She is a historian with a passion for the Middle Ages, lay religion, charity and cities. In her doctoral thesis at KU Leuven, she studied the correlation between commemorative care and poor relief and its evolution, examining how the two practices converged in the organisation of the tables of the Holy Spirit in late medieval Bruges.
The programme
-
07:30 pm
Welcome by Erik De Bom, acting director at UCSIA -
07:35 uur
Lecture “The medieval tables of the poor: food distribution from a religious motive” by Hannelore Franck -
08.15 pm
Q&A
