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Sakoun Phommavongsa

Mr. Macksoud

AP European History

05 January 2009

The Poor in Europe (1450-1700)

Between approximately 1450 and 1700, European society faced much trouble and

economic turmoil. This problem was mainly caused by the introduction to mercantilist policy,

which was a system whereby the government of a nation heavily regulated its trade and

commerce. These mercantilist policies resulted in many people, a great number of them being

peasants having a very hard time to gain any amounts of wealth for themselves. Taxes introduced

by mercantilism made it harder for people to retain their income. Almost 50 percent of Europe’s

population between 1450 and 1700 lived having minimum food and shelter to sustain life.

Poverty gradually increased, causing up to 80 percent of a region’s population to face possible

starvation. Measures such as stealing and begging would then take place in order for one to

survive during this economic catastrophe. There were many different attitudes toward and

responses to poverty in Europe between 1450 and 1700; these included relief benefits and charity

to the poor, the desire for regulations and disciplinary actions for the poor, the poor seen

sympathetically, and the poor seen as idle.

During the period between 1450 and 1700, many people tried to create some relief

benefits in order to care for the poor. A Catholic priest in France once stated that “Whoever gives

a penny to the poor for God while in good health, it will be worth 240 pennies” (Doc. 1). This

priest believes that people must give alms to the poor, and that the act of giving to the poor will

be worth a great measure. The town council in Dijon, France suggested that they “will rent at the
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city’s cost a barn or other place to put them for the night and to care for them as well as possible”

(Doc. 2). This is one of the relief benefits that they created in order to care for the poor. A

Catholic priest of France also believed that the poor must receive charity. In his speech, Vincent

de Paul stated that “we must assist the poor and see that they are helped in every possible way”

(Doc. 10). He believed that people had a duty to help those less fortunate than they are. These

people all had a common belief in that the poor must be cared for and assisted as well as

possible, and this could happen by the creation of certain relief benefits.

Another attitude toward the poor in Europe between 1450 and 1700 was that some of

them should be punished and certain regulations for them should take place. This response was

sure to create a better society. In a meeting in Rouen, France, the town council there suggested

that “those who are unwilling to work should indeed be expelled from the city” (Doc. 5). This is

directed to those of the poor who are undeserving of alms because of their idleness, and the town

council suggests that it should be a policy that they should be forced to leave the city because of

it. The poorhouse regulations of Suffolk County, England in 1588 stated that “All unruly and

stubborn persons shall be corrected oftener and given heavier shackles, a thinner diet, and harder

labor until they are brought to reasonable obedience” (Doc. 7). These are examples of regulations

for the poor that they think must take place in order to create a better society. In 1625 in a

statement on poverty, Cardinal Richelieu agreed with that in suggesting that in every town in the

kingdom of France, rules and regulations for the poor should be established (Doc. 8). In saying

this, Richelieu also favored a society in which there were regulations for the poor. This viewpoint

of the poor needing to be disciplined was very widespread.

Because of the terrible conditions they lived under, many people in Europe saw the poor

sympathetically. Juan Luis Vives explains how “women of eligible years put modesty aside and,
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no longer holding to chastity, put it on sale” and “children of the needy receive a deplorable

upbringing.” He also states that “some know that they have a duty of charity to the poor” (Doc.

3). In saying all of this, the poor is seen as sympathetically and Vives believed that it is one’s

duty to care for the poor because of the dreadful living conditions they lived under. In Rembrandt

van Rijn’s Beggars Receiving Alms at the Door of a House, a clergyman is shown to be giving

alms to a poor family (Doc. 9). One of the reasons this is shown could be that the clergyman was

sympathetic in seeing this family. This is an example of how people in Europe viewed the poor

caringly, and as a result, giving alms to them.

Another common viewpoint of the poor was that some of those in poverty were seen as

idle. These people were not active in society in order to gain essential needs to continue life and

to earn their own living. In 1531, Emperor Charles V stated that “if begging for alms is permitted

to everyone indiscriminately, many errors and abuses will result, for they will fall into idleness”

(Doc. 4). Charles V believed that begging as opposed to working for things will lead to laziness

and idleness in society. This would be the case for some members of the poor in Europe between

1450 and 1700. In New Booke of Spiritual Physick, an English doctor named William Turner

wrote that the poor “would much rather be sick and live with ease and idleness than to be well

and to honestly earn their living with great pain and labor” (Doc. 6). He agrees in that some

people who are poor would rather take it easy and live in idleness than to put hard work in

earning their living. Jean Maillefer also agreed that some poor people were idle in that “they

have no cares, pay no rents or taxes, have no losses to fear.” He believed that those idle poor

people have “grown accustomed” to life and have “no worries” (Doc. 11).

The minimum amounts of food and lack of shelter to sustain life created many attitudes

toward the poor of Europe. These outlooks included the need for relief benefits and charity that
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must be given to the poor. Many people believed that it was their duty to give to the poor

considering the wrecked living conditions they faced. Other people believed that disciplinary

measures and certain regulations must take place for those poor who are undeserving of alms.

Those who decided to give to the poor saw them sympathetically and in a great need of help. A

fraction of those living in poverty were considered to be idle, that is doing nothing to earn a

living for themselves. Although life for the poor would become better after the French

Revolution, these European societal attitudes toward the poor were always mixed.