Poor Relief and the Church in Scotland, 1560-1650

John McCallum is a senior lecturer in History at Nottingham Trent University, and a specialist in the religious and social history of early modern Scotland. He is the author of Reforming the Scottish Parish (2010), editor of Scotland’s Long Reformation (2016), and has published various other pieces on aspects of Scottish Reformation history.

• AcknowledgementsConventionsAbbreviationsList of TablesMapIntroductionChapter 1. Ideas, Attitudes and AmbitionsSection I: The Development of Kirk Session Poor ReliefChapter 2. Urban Beginnings and Developments, c. 1560-c. 1610Chapter 3. Poor Relief Beyond the Main Burghs, c. 1590-c. 1650Chapter 4: Poor Relief under StressSection II: The Nature of Kirk Session Poor ReliefChapter 5. The Mechanics of ReliefChapter 6. Who Were the Poor? The Recipients of ReliefChapter 7. Who Was Deserving? Decision-Making and DiscriminationChapter 8. Beyond the Kirk Session: Mixed Economies of ReliefConclusionAppendix: Equivalent Values from Wages and PricesBibliography

With Poor Relief and the Church in Scotland, John McCallum has produced one of the most important books on the social history of early modern Scotland in the last twenty years. This is an essential piece of research for historians of poor relief and religious reform in Scotland and Europe... McCallum has made a valuable contribution to international research on premodern forms of welfare, as well as offering up a groundbreaking analysis of a vital feature of early modern Scottish society.