ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the better-kept records of the contemporary church congregations, and considers their tactics and successes in comparison with the cathedral's Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Like all medieval cities, Strasbourg had many churches besides the cathedral. Because of the prominence of the cathedral, and the associated fraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, every clerical establishment in late medieval Strasbourg would have been aware of the Book of Donors and its obituary-cum-fundraising strategy. The parish church of St. Thomas was responsible for overseeing the parish of St. Aurelia, and, after 1475, the Carmelite cloister, while the powerful Dominican and Franciscan orders saw to the spiritual welfare of several daughter houses. The parish churches were all given over to the new preaching by the Magistrat in 1525, but the Catholic chapters, while relinquishing their parish duties, kept the benefices that made them wealthy.
