English Poor Relief, c. 1350–1795

Abstract

My argument is that the nature of English poverty and the programmes that were devised to address it were both distinctive and that this distinctiveness was a result of the development of capitalism. There is general agreement on what constituted the important features of English poor relief, yet there is much disagreement on whether and why these features were unique. This chapter begins with a critique of the standard interpretations of the rise of poor relief. This is followed by a description of the types of support available to the indigent during the middle ages and a survey of the transition to public forms of relief in the second half of the sixteenth century. In the subsequent section, I reject the contention that the Protestant Reformation was an important factor in this transition. In the second half of the chapter, I draw out the methods used to assist the poor that were solidified shortly after 1600 and which remained in place down to the era of the French Revolution. This will serve as the basis for my own interpretation, in the last section, where I argue that poor relief was a substitute for access to land and common rights.