3) Contemporary Attitudes towards the Poor 2: Political Factors

Question 1

Why was the government’s attitude towards the able-bodied poor so harsh?

Answer 1

Because they knew that violence could derive from poverty and saw it as a threat.

Question 2

What did they fear that beggars and vagrants would do?

Answer 2

They feared that beggars and vagrants would create unrest and rebellion as poverty was responsible for many riots and rebellions during the period.

Question 3

Give two examples of rebellions caused by poverty.

Answer 3

1. Protests in Suffolk caused by taxation raised by Henry VIII in order to fight France.
2. Trouble in Lavenham and Sudbury following the depression in the cloth industry during Henry VIII’s reign.

Question 4

What did the government genuinely believe that there was?

Answer 4

The government genuinely believed that there was an underground society of vagrants intent on spreading seditious literature against the crown. This shows how paranoid they were, as most vagrants couldn’t even read or write.

Question 5

What happened in some areas?

Answer 5

In some areas, vagrants formed gangs which terrorised the local population. It it likely that the government exaggerated this though, and it was the potential for trouble that worried them.