10 - The Problem Of The Poor

Question 1

What were the reasons for an increase in poverty and vagabondage in Elizabethan England?

Answer 1

• Farming and harvests: Bad harvests caused food shortages and there was a sequence of bad harvests in the early 1570s. Food shortages meant an increase in prices, which the poor could not afford. Enclosures also meant that labourers lost their jobs.
• Decline of the cloth trade: Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs when the Antwerp cloth trade collapsed in the 1550s as it had provided work for spinners and weavers
• Population increase: Gradually, the population started to increase again after the Black Death but jobs decreased due to changes in farming and the decline in the cloth trade, leading to more poverty.
• Inflation: Prices across Europe rose more steeply than wages were rising, so more people could not afford basic food. Inflation was due to factors such as an increased demand for food with a larger population, and Henry VIII’s debasement of the coinage (melting down all coins which had contained valuable gold and silver, causing shop owners to be wary over the value of new coins, therefore raising prices).
• Closure of the monasteries: In the 1530s, monasteries provided food and shelter for the poor, but were closed down in the Dissolution of the monasteries in the late 1530s (by Henry VIII).

Question 2

What were the public’s views on poverty?

Answer 2

The reasons for poverty were not understood at the time, and those in poverty blamed it on their own misfortune

Question 3

Why were Elizabethans so worried about poverty?

Answer 3

• Some beggars turned to crime and broke into houses
• Some believed that vagabonds were spreading the plague due to the public’s lack of understanding of the disease
• Danger of rebellions: There was no permanent army and the rising number of the poor increased the likelihood of a rebellion, as there was more desperation so they were more likely to join in with plotting.
• Problems with the Poor Relief: After monasteries closed, landowners who had a duty to aid the poor found this work difficult and expensive as there was a much larger amount of poor people
• Exaggerated stories about vagabonds: Increased fear of poverty amongst public
• Religious beliefs: Puritans believed that poverty was idleness and people should work hard, many of the MPs were puritans.
• Threat to social order: Beggars threatened social order as they ignored their superiors, this threatened the power of the upper classes. Beggars also increased the chance of poor people rebelling, as they would not be afraid to threaten social order after seeing beggars successfully carrying this out.

Question 4

What was the Elizabethan government’s attitude towards the poor?

Answer 4

Despite the increased fear of poverty and vagabondage, the government distinguished the poor into two separate classes and accepted responsibility for a proportion of the poor population:
- The poor who wanted to work were the ‘deserving poor’ - the government made an effort to help these people.
- Those who were able bodied but would not work were the ‘idle poor’ - this included vagabonds, who were said to be fit and strong people who deliberately avoided work. The government wanted to punish these people

Question 5

What policies were introduced by the Elizabethan government to help manage poverty?

Answer 5

The Elizabethan government dealt differently with the deserving poor and the idle poor. Two acts were passed by Parliament, which were sent to towns, telling them how to deal with the different types of poor.

• Vagabonds Act 1572: Anyone found guilty of vagabondage, over the age of 14, was to be whipped and burned throng the gristle of the right ear. For a second offence, vagabonds would be sent to prison, and repeated offenders would be executed. Children of convicted beggars were to be placed in domestic service.
• Act for Relief of Poor (1576): Towns were required to find work for the able-bodied poor, and those who refused work would be sent to a house of correction.

The local Justices of the Peace was ordered to keep a register of the poor in their parish, and to raise a poor rate to pay for food and shelter for the sick and elderly.