The Problem of the Poor in Tudor and Early Stuart England

by Lucinda Beier

This pamphlet examines recent research into the poor laws of Tudor and Stuart England. Dr Beier asks the question ‘who were the poor?’ and in answering it places the ‘problem of the poor’ in its historical context, examining it in relation to medieval provisions for dealing with poverty. He shows how far legislation was influenced by economic changes, by ideas about poverty and by the interests of the legislators themselves. Dr Beier evaluates the varying interpretations of the poor laws, from those who have seen them as an early ‘welfare state’ to those who have considered them to be the manifestation of a ‘Protestant ethic’. The major poor-law statues are summarized in an appendix, and there is a useful bibliography.

68 pages, Paperback

First published March 17, 1983

Reviews

[Charlotte Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting read with a simple writing style but for an educational/academic piece it seemed a little too conversational and I would not feel comfortable quoting it in an essay (which is the reason I read this). Overall, I got through the whole thing more because I found it easy to read and there were some interesting points, but I wouldn't recommend it if you're trying to write an academic paper/essay.

[Andrea Zuvich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, concise, and helpful overview of the poor in the Tudor and Early Stuart periods. Although it does not suffer from the verbosity so common in academic works, it is still largely academic in tone, so I wouldn't recommend this to the casual history reader.