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Phommavongsa 1Sakoun PhommavongsaMr. MacksoudAP European History05 January 2009The Poor in Europe (1450-1700)Between approximately 1450 and 1700, European society faced much trouble andeconomic 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 andcommerce. 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 possiblestarvation. Measures such as stealing and begging would then take place in order for one tosurvive during this economic catastrophe. There were many different attitudes toward andresponses to poverty in Europe between 1450 and 1700; these included relief benefits and charityto the poor, the desire for regulations and disciplinary actions for the poor, the poor seensympathetically, 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 givesa 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

Phommavongsa 2city’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. ACatholic priest of France also believed that the poor must receive charity. In his speech, Vincentde 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 wassure to create a better society. In a meeting in Rouen, France, the town council there suggestedthat “those who are unwilling to work should indeed be expelled from the city” (Doc. 5). This isdirected to those of the poor who are undeserving of alms because of their idleness, and the towncouncil 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 andstubborn 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 regulationsfor the poor that they think must take place in order to create a better society. In 1625 in astatement on poverty, Cardinal Richelieu agreed with that in suggesting that in every town in thekingdom of France, rules and regulations for the poor should be established (Doc. 8). In sayingthis, Richelieu also favored a society in which there were regulations for the poor. This viewpointof 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,

Phommavongsa 3no longer holding to chastity, put it on sale” and “children of the needy receive a deplorableupbringing.” 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’sduty to care for the poor because of the dreadful living conditions they lived under. In Rembrandtvan Rijn’s

Beggars Receiving Alms at the Door of a House

, a clergyman is shown to be givingalms to a poor family (Doc. 9). One of the reasons this is shown could be that the clergyman wassympathetic 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 asidle. These people were not active in society in order to gain essential needs to continue life andto earn their own living. In 1531, Emperor Charles V stated that “if begging for alms is permittedto 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 lazinessand idleness in society. This would be the case for some members of the poor in Europe between1450 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 welland 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 inearning their living. Jean Maillefer also agreed that some poor people were idle in that “theyhave 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 attitudestoward the poor of Europe. These outlooks included the need for relief benefits and charity that

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The Poor Dbq

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