The Problem of the Poor

Question 1

In William Harrison’s 1577 book, what were the 4 social classes he listed?

Answer 1

• Gentlemen: nobles, lords and gentry
• Merchants, master craftsmen and lawyers
• Yeomen; farmers who owned their own land
• The fourth sort: farm labourers, servants, shopkeepers, tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, etc. (made up majority of the population and also included the poor and unemployed)

Question 2

List 3 reasons why it’s hard to find about the ‘fourth sort’.

Answer 2

• Few could read and write
• Their homes and possessions haven’t survived
• Anything recorded about them is usually from other social groups

Question 3

What were 5 ways people could increase their social class in the Elizabethan Era?

Answer 3

• Education
• Buying land
• Moving into commerce and trade
• Having a career as a politician
• Marrying into the class above

Question 4

What was the standard living like in the 1570s? Give 5 examples.

Answer 4

• People were living more comfortably
• More houses were being built of stone and brick instead of wood
• More houses had glass windows, chimneys and fireplaces
• Oak panels were used to keep homes warm
• People had more furniture
• Utensils were being made out of silver instead of wood

Question 5

List 8 reasons for an increase in poverty and vagabondage.

Answer 5

• Bad harvests caused food shortages, and increases in food prices in the early 1570s
• Extreme inflation from after 1570
• Rack-renting; landlords increased rent on lands that they rented to farmers
• Enclosures (switching from growing crops to to raising sheep) decreased the numbers of workers needed
• The cloth trade collapsed in the 1550s, which caused tens of thousands of people to lose their jobs
• The population increased and there were fewer jobs, and so there was more unemployment
• In 1536, Henry VIII had closed down the monasteries, which had provided the poor with food and shelter
• In the 1540s, Henry VIII ‘debased’ the coinage; he had melted the coins and reduced the amount of gold and silver in them to increase his own wealth, but this caused inflation as people believed money wasn’t worth as much anymore

Question 6

List 7 reasons why the Elizabethans were so worried about poverty.

Answer 6

• People believed the strict social structure should be adhered to, which beggars didn’t
• Beggars often turned to crime
• Wandering beggars were thought to be responsible for spreading disease
• Exaggerated accounts about vagabonds created panic
• Increasing numbers of poor people increased the risk of rebellion, particularly if people like Mary, Queen of Scots capitalised from it
• Many landowners had previously given Poor Relief with the help of the monasteries, but they no longer received that help and there were rapidly increasing numbers of poor people, so they couldn’t keep up
• Puritans in the government believed idleness was a sin, and that anyone who didn’t work by choice should be punished

Question 7

What were vagabonds? List 3 types.

Answer 7

• Poor people who were said to be fit and strong, but deliberately avoided work
• Angler: used a long stick to steal clothes from washing lines
• Clapperdudgeon: put arsenic on their skin to bleed and wrapped bandages on their arms
• Doxy: carried a bag to hide her stolen goods

Question 8

What did Elizabeth’s government generally do for the poor?

Answer 8

• They believed they should arrange help for the poor, but the rich should finance it
• They distinguished between the deserving and underserving poor

Question 9

Describe the 1572 Vagabonds Act.

Answer 9

• Vagabonds over 14 to be whipped and burned through the right ear
• They were sent to a prison for a second offence
• Repeat offenders were executed
• The children of vagabonds were put in domestic service
• Justices of the Peace were told to give a poor rate to the sick and elderly

Question 10

Describe the 1576 Act for the Relief of the Poor.

Answer 10

• Towns had to find work for the able-bodied poor
• Those who refused to work were sent to a house of correction