ABSTRACT
Christianity has always had a close relationship with money. Established in the late Roman era, this was transmitted into the early Middle Ages and contributed to a relatively open and relaxed attitude towards money in religious settings. Payments for pastoral care were commonplace, and the churches of medieval Europe came to be major holders of material wealth as well as guides on how the wealth of others could be expended in godly fashion. Gifts of cash could also be made as genuine signs of devotion by clergy and laity alike. This article considers these gifts, focusing on how earlier medieval donors personalised and tailored their offerings to identify them clearly as a gift. They did so because coined money had a broad range of uses, not all necessarily tainted by commercial associations, but nonetheless an uncontextualised handover of money was not readily identifiable as a gift. To signpost the nature of their donations, givers could undertake recognised gestures and procedures of giving, package and present their donations in a physically distinctive way, or use specific coins — either specimens of general-purpose currency with a particular history to them, or unusual forms of money specially made for donative purposes. A series of case studies exemplify these mechanisms and the challenges they present.
