Cover -- Table of Contents -- 1. Introduction -- Poor relief in the Dutch Republic -- Research design -- 2. Organizing poor relief -- Reforming medieval social care -- Poor relief in a Golden Age -- The system under pressure -- Conclusion -- 3. Financing outdoor poor relief -- Income -- Collections and alms boxes -- Testamentary bequests and inter vivos gifts -- Income from capital and real estate -- Subsidies -- Developments in the financing of poor relief over time -- Tolerated religious charities -- Expenditure -- Financial management -- Balancing income and expenditure -- Crisis management -- Conclusion -- 4. Organizing collections -- Types and frequency -- Regulation and control -- Between nudge and obligation -- Conclusion -- 5. The rhetoric of giving -- Perceptions of poverty and charity -- Civic exhortations to give -- Charity as a civic and religious duty -- Methods of persuasion -- Religious exhortations to give -- Preaching in the early modern period -- Views on wealth and poverty -- Charity as a Christian duty -- Guidelines for giving -- Conclusion -- 6. Donating to collections -- The donors -- Collection gifts -- Effective policies -- The boundaries of voluntarism -- Paying for poor relief -- Conclusion -- 7. Conclusion -- Financing poor relief in the Dutch Republic -- Encouraging charitable giving -- Donating to collections -- Differences between localities and developments over time -- Explaining the success of charitable collections in the Dutch Republic -- Notes -- Appendices -- A Financial administration of poor relief institutions -- B Income of poor relief institutions -- C Income of poor relief institutions corrected for inflation -- D Sermons and religious writings -- Bibliography -- Index.