1. Change and continuity © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 How did the care of the poor change from 1400-1697?

2. Change and continuity © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Objectives In this activity you will: Find out how the treatment of the poor changed over time.

3. Change and continuity © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 How do we treat poor people today? Discuss: Charity Benefits Unemployment pay Sick pay Begging

4. Change and continuity © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Who were the deserving poor? The old The sick The disabled The Black Death (1348-49) killed almost one third of the population. This meant more work for survivors. Workers demanded higher wages. Many left their villages to seek a new lord or go into the towns. Who were the undeserving poor? The sturdy vagabonds

5. Change and continuity © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 How were poor people treated in 1400? Discuss: The church Monasteries Charity Almshouses In the Middle Ages the Church built hospitals and provided care for the sick and poor. It was seen as part of their Christian duty.

6. Change and continuity © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 How were poor people treated in early Tudor times (around 1500)? Discuss: No more monasteries Begging Charity Punish them as lazy In Tudor times unemployment increased. Henry VIII closing the monasteries added to the poor’s problems. Many roamed around searching for work or stealing. The Tudor authorities passed laws saying vagabonds were to be whipped and a hole burnt in their ear. For a third offence they could be hanged. All vagrants were to be whipped until they were bloody and sent back to their own parish.

7. Change and continuity © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 How were poor people treated in Elizabethan times (around 1600)? Discuss: The Parish Workhouse Charity After 1601 each parish had to find work for the able-bodied poor. Those unable to work were cared for, often in almshouses. The rich were taxed to help the poor.

8. Change and continuity © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 How were poor people treated after 1697? A law was passed insisting paupers wear a badge as a mark of poverty/help from the village. Discuss: Parishes Badges

9. Change and continuity © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 How did the treatment of the poor change between 1400-1697? Can you think of reasons why things got better or worse for the poor at these times? Sometimes it got better and sometimes it got worse for the poor – can you decide when?