Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- The Early Byzantine State and the Christian Ideal of Voluntary Poverty -- Charitable Ministrations (Diakoniai), Monasticism, and the Social Aesthetic of Sixth-Century Byzantium -- Charity and Piety as Episcopal and Imperial Virtues in Late Antiquity -- Healing the world with righteousness ? The language of social justice in early Christian homilies -- Almsgiving, Donatio Pro Anima and Eucharistic Offering in the Early Middle Ages of Western Europe (4th-9th century) -- Christian Pious Foundations as an Element of Continuity between Late Antiquity and Islam -- Charity and Piety for the Transformation of the Cities -- Piety and Charity in Late Medieval Egypt and Syria -- Forms and Functions of Charity in Al-Andalus -- "When Death Will Fall Upon Him": Charitable Legacies in 15th Century Granada. -- Charity and Gift Giving in Medieval Islam -- Charity and Repentance in Medieval Islamic Thought and Practice -- Geniza Documents for the Comparative History of Poverty and Charity -- Charity in Jewish Society of the Medieval Mediterranean World -- Benefaction (Ni˘ma), Gratitude (Shukr), and the Politics of Giving and Receiving in Letters from the Cairo Geniza -- An Indigent Scholar's Plea for Charity: A Geniza Letter.