ABSTRACT
The number of laywomen living a life of religious devotion and piety in the later Middle Ages blurred the distinction between the lay and religious worlds. The charity practised by nuns, beguines, penitents and saints overlapped with that of the housewife living in village or town. The duty of providing for the poor and the great importance attached to their prayers underpinned many of the acts of charity in the later Middle Ages. A number of chantry foundations contained a charitable element, such as the provision of education. Women had different opportunities to exercise charity from men because of their control of the household, and there are parallels between the actions of rich and poor inspite of their contrasting resources. Foundations were made by royalty, nobility and townspeople, and by men, women and married couples. The nature of women's lives enabled them to know their communities and where the real needs lay.
