Mendicant Economy and Estate Management in Late Medieval Hungary

This book explores how mendicant orders in late medieval Hungary—Franciscans, Dominicans, Austin Hermits, and Carmelites—sustained themselves economically. It reveals their strategies, networks, and impact, offering fresh insights into monastic life and medieval society in East-Central Europe.

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This volume offers an original, comprehensive study of the economic foundations and estate management of mendicant orders in late medieval Hungary, setting this within a broader East-Central European context. Focusing on the Franciscans, Dominicans, Austin Hermits, and Carmelites, it examines how communities devoted to apostolic poverty adapted locally through alms, landholding, and manual work. By analysing patronage, urban and rural networks, and resilience to external pressures, this book provides new perspectives on mendicant practices and the economic life of medieval society. Drawing on comparative examples and underutilised sources, it reveals how Hungary’s unusually dense mendicant presence shaped its religious and social landscape.