Which list is this?
The seven virtues in the title match the pairing most often given today for the seven deadly sins: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness and humility. It is a later and popular list, and it is not the same as the combination of cardinal and theological virtues discussed in the general introduction to the seven virtues. Medieval and later sources arrange the opposites in slightly different ways, so the list below should be read as one common version, not as a standard medieval text.
In the usual matching, each virtue is a remedy for a vice: chastity for lust, temperance for gluttony, charity for greed, diligence for sloth, patience for anger, kindness for envy and humility for pride. Medieval authors sometimes used other terms, such as liberality or mercy for the virtue against greed, and brotherly love for the one against envy.
Chastity
Chastity was the right ordering of sexual desire according to one’s state of life. For the married, it meant fidelity within marriage; for the unmarried, abstinence; and for monks, nuns and clergy, a vow of celibacy. It was not simply a ban on pleasure but a discipline of self-control, and it was esteemed more highly in religious life. The ideal had a wide range of expression, from monastic rules to romance, and it interacted in complicated ways with ideas of courtly love. Medieval teachers also stressed that chastity applied to thoughts and speech, and that the body was not considered evil in itself.
Temperance
Temperance, one of the four cardinal virtues, was moderation in food, drink and bodily comfort. In this scheme, it answers gluttony. Medieval communities practiced it through seasonal fasts and abstinence from meat on certain days. A temperate meal did not mean a joyless one; the aim was measure. Preachers connected it with sobriety and with caring for the poor by not wasting food.
Charity
Charity (Latin caritas) meant love of God and of neighbor for God’s sake. It was both a theological virtue and, in this scheme, the remedy for greed, since love turns attention from possessions to people. In practice it was expressed through works of mercy and almsgiving: feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and burying the dead. Hospitals, almshouses and monastic hospitality were institutions built on this idea. Writers also warned that giving to gain praise was a form of pride, so charity needed pure motives.
Diligence
Diligence is the counter to sloth, the ancient vice of spiritual weariness and neglect of duty. In monastic settings it meant steady attention to prayer and work. For laypeople it came to mean doing one’s tasks faithfully, whether plowing, weaving or governing. The Benedictine tradition, which taught that idleness is the enemy of the soul and organized the day around prayer and labor, is a well-known source of this outlook. The medieval emphasis was less on productivity for its own sake than on faithful performance of duties.
Patience
Patience answered anger. It meant the ability to bear injury, delay or suffering without bitterness and without taking revenge. Christ’s passion was the model, and the saints and martyrs were praised for enduring hardship calmly. In a society where feuds and violence could be serious, preachers valued the call to forgive and to settle disputes without bloodshed. This did not mean tolerating injustice forever; moralists distinguished patience from cowardice and allowed righteous anger in defense of what was good, within limits.
Kindness
Kindness, sometimes expressed as brotherly love, benevolence or generosity of spirit, is the remedy for envy. Envy was sorrow at another’s good, and the cure was to rejoice in it. Medieval writers described kindness as willing the good of others and showing it in gentleness, courtesy and help. Of the seven it is the least fixed in the sources, partly because the word in modern English does not map neatly onto Latin terms such as benignitas, caritas fraterna or misericordia. This is one reason lists differ.
Humility
Humility is paired with pride, which medieval writers treated as the root of the other vices. It meant seeing oneself truthfully, without exaggeration, and recognizing dependence on God. Monastic rules gave it great importance, and mystics and saints such as Francis of Assisi became known for it. Teachers distinguished true humility from false self-deprecation, and from a performance of humility meant to win praise. In a hierarchical society, humility could be preached to the powerful as a check on arrogance and to the poor as a source of dignity, though critics have noted that it could also be used to encourage deference.
Why the lists vary
Several factors explain why one source’s seven virtues differ from another’s. Medieval writers freely adapted lists to their audience. Latin terms did not match English words exactly. Some authors used the cardinal and theological virtues in the sevenfold scheme, while others chose remedies for the vices. Popular summaries today often smooth over these differences and present a single standard list.
Using the list carefully
The version in the title is a useful teaching summary of how virtues were set against vices, but it should not be treated as a single authoritative medieval document. The underlying idea, that moral growth means cultivating a particular good habit against a particular fault, was widespread and genuinely medieval. The precise names are best read as one common arrangement among several.