History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c71.s1.189

v5.c71.s1.189

¹²⁴ In Europe the same practice prevailed in the middle ages. 'The founder (of monasteries) constantly tells us that this sacrifice is made for the atonement of his own sins and those of his progenitors and kinsfolk" G. G. Coulton in 'Five centuries of Religion' (1936) vol III p. 27. Redemption of sin by monetary payments or by leaving property to the churches and monasteries was a very firm belief in the Middle Ages in Christian countries, so much so that men who had earned properties made large gifts to the church when the prospect of death was near and vast estates accumulated in the hands of churchmen, which led to the passing of the Statute of Mortmain in England.