urban women

The article is devoted to the study of the social aspect of the life of Tudor London. On the material of the wills the author shows that the majority of the testators are artisans, small traders and merchants of the «Twelve Great Livery Companies» of London. Also, there are representatives of the service sector, gentry and the emerging intelligentsia. Among the recipients of the inheritance numerous church institutions of the city are mentioned. Some wills belong to women: wives or widows of merchants and artisans.

The article examines a charity in London at the end of the 15th–16th Centuries based on the material of the wills of merchants and artisans and their widows. The directions of the citizens‘s charity are identified: Church, social, cultural and educational, and specific forms of their manifestation are characterized from a gender perspective.