English Parliament passed to separate acts in 1531 and 1536 that developed the first comprehensive English system of poor relief.
Although the Statute of Laborers of 1349 intended to stop the forces that were pushing society away from the indentured nature of the feudal system, they were unable to quell the large scale instability in economic shifts caused by the gradual disintegration of feudalism. Due to the governments inability to control these changes, Parliament enacted further laws to suppress vagrancy and mobility. 1
The changing economic conditions of the period helped some while hurting others as many of the occupations of feudalism disappeared. Vagrancy became a problem throughout Europe. In the 1520s, those who were identified as destitute poor in England were estimated to be between 13 to 20% of the population. That number was estimated to have doubled over the next 100 years. 2
Around the same time, in 1539, King Henry VIII forced monasteries to close, who historically had provided relief to the poor, which reduced public relief efforts and made what was insufficient help even worse. However, many thought that the church had been spoiling the poor by sheltering them and giving them alms and that the changes made by the King and parliament were long overdue. Local jurisdictions were given the authority to determine who could and could not beg and where they could beg. For context, the vagabonds and beggars of the day were comparable to the masses of the unemployed during the great depression or in today’s urban areas as opposed to current populations who are experiencing homelessness.
The acts created a two pronged approach that became the basis of poor relief for the next several centuries: 2
Positive provisions
governmental criteria about who is legitimately in need
governmental obligation to search out those in need
government registration of need definition of what government should do for the needy
construction and administration of a system of contributions for the poor
Punishments
Those who were to be found vagabonds were statutorily required to be punished
Legal definition of vagabond was legislated as; poor, able to work and unemployed
Local governments then became responsible to the upkeep of the poor
Prohibited alms to individuals
The 1531 law included penalties such as whipping, banishment back to hometown, cutting off an ear and possible execution for able-bodied beggars
The 1536 law included an involved system of branding, enslavement and executed for repeated offenses
Endnotes
From Poor Laws to Welfare State, Fifth Edition. Walter I. Trattner. Chapter 1.
Five Hundred Years of English Poor Laws,1349-1834: Regulating the Working and Nonworking Poor. William P. Quigley. 2015. pages 11-14.