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History: Burghley Alms Houses - Coggle Diagram
History: Burghley Alms Houses
Social / Economic Factors
The Increase in Poverty:
Long-term Causes:
Population growth - greatly increased from 2 to 4.2 million people in Elizabeths reign. This put pressure on resources such as food, homes and jobs
Unemployment - long term change from arable to sheep farming and this causes a reduced need for farm workers. This caused migration to the towns, and a supply of cheap Labour created a large and vulnerable class of under employed labouring poor
Also caused enclsoures
Also caused by problems with the cloth trade - hostility with Spain disrupted trade through Antwerp
Inflation and harvest failure - farm labourers on fixed incomes found that their wages did not keep pace with rising prices
Women and children made up a large number of the poor, and in Norwich in a survey of 1570 it showed that old age, illness, or death of a parent caused poverty in 35% of cases, but unemployment was responsible in 50%
Many of the poor were victims of an economy which was failing to imply a rapidly rising population. Conditions were getting worse
Short-term Causes:
Temporary crisis brought urgency to the concerns and fears about long term economic trends
Outbreaks of the plague in 1593 and 1603
Harvest failures in 1586 and 1595-1597
This caused a peak in crimes and as well as food and enclosure riots
Later 1590s famine and high prices pushed the poor towards towns in search of charity. This is how by the number of vagrants punished at Bridewell Prison, London rising from 69 per year in 1560-61 to 209 in 1578-9 and then to 555 in 1600-1. This was an eightfold increase when the city's population only rose threefold
Fears around the increase in poverty:
Elizabethans were alarmed by the size and the nature of the problem caused by the poor. They saw them as wasters and thieves who should be whipped out of town
This alarm was caused by books about idleness and vagrancy such as William Harrison's 'Description of England' which estimated 10,000 vagrants. Also distinguished between the 'impotent poor' and the 'thriftless poor'. Also Thomas Harman had a similar book
Believed they posed a danger to the social order (idea of the great chain of being) - government received reports from JPs such as Edward Text in Somerset, who wrote to Burghley in 1596 warning about large gangs of vagabonds travelling through the country, and the potential for disorder
The upper classes and Elizabethan Privy Council were particularly concerned by able-bodied unemployment men and women called rogues, vagabonds, vagrants, or sturdy beggars. This is evidenced by the treatment they received
Initially they were treated as criminals and seen as a threat to public order. 1572 Act of Parliament permitted punishment of vagabonds with those over 14 years being severely whipped and burned through the gristle of the right ear unless someone would take them into service for a year. However, this law did have some positive aspects - it was influenced by measures introduced in Norwich and included a survey of the poor, an increase in the rates and new ways to provide employment
Act of Parliament 1576 required each county to set up houses of correction where vagrants were set to work. Persistent vagrants could be whipped, imprisoned, even executed
How did attitudes to poverty change?
Parliamentary interest in social regulation and control increased. It was clear that in the second half of Elizabeth's reign those in authority, that is the Privy Council, Parliament or the local authorities felt threatened by the large numbers of vagrants and the disorder they caused. They believed that the manners and behaviour of the lowest in society needed urgent improvement. They discussed 17 bills about poverty in the 1597-8 session, and between 1576 and 1601 there were also 13 bills relating to drunkness
The Government began to realise that not all the able-bodied poor were idle and accepted that some wanted to work but couldn't find any. Also accepted that Government had some responsibility to help some of the poor
This changing attitude is shown in the 1601 Poor Law that consolidated earlier laws, included a compulsory poor rate (a tax to raise money to provide for the local poor), responsibility to provide work for the unemplyed, and punishment for those who continued to be vagrants
The Government got its ideas from various local initiatives in Norwich, Ipswich, York and London. All these towns had introduced compulsory taxes for poor relief in the later 1540s and 1550s. It is thought that the 1572 law was also influenced by positive measures introduced in Norwich and it included a survey of the poor, an increase in the rates and new ways to provide unemployment
This more positive side of government policy and changing attitude was also shown by the printed Book of Orders sent to all JPs, first published in 1586. This brought together all previous advice and required local authorities to adopt common policies. It was a major Elizabethan innovation. One set told local officials and JPs how to respond to famine and how to ensure that even the poor were able to buy food
Religous Factors
Why did attitudes to poverty change?
Many people were influenced by Puritanism. Puritans believed that the rich had to use their wealth to glorify God, they believed God valued hard work over idleness, and that they should help improve the morals and behaviour of the poor. This meant that giving alms fitted the bill - particulary as it supported new hospitals, alms houses and charitable giving
Puritans favoured discrimination in poor relief - they supported the respectable poor, wanted to improve the morality of the poor as they saw them as a threat to good order
Puritan magisrates stressed the infectious vices and social threat that poverty caused, and in a Norfolk jail JPs met after prayers to punish rogues and drunkards as this was their godly work
There was a common belief that old methods had failed due to a decline in charitable giving. This was wrong as private donations for poor relief had made up for the loss of monastic alms giving, and these roughly kept up with inflation
Why did William Cecil, Lord Burghley, set up the alms houses?
He was a devout Christian. He might have had a tendency towards Puritanism - Puritanism gave Elizabethans a new way of looking at poverty
He took over the grounds of a former medieval hospital for his alms houses
Why we're the alms houses founded?
It was a public display and an outward sign of their Christian faith
The religous and social context:
The English reformation ended Catholicism in England, and therefore removed the need for prayers for the dead. Alms houses had originally been set up for this purpose. Also, the poor law passed responsibility for housing the poor on to the parish. Despite both these changed alms houses continued to be founded
Many founders were still motivated by religous factors. Protestants were eager to support charitable giving and to show concern for the poor as a sign of their faith and godliness, They no longer believed in 'doing good works' as a route to salvation, but they were still motivated by a desire to prove their godliness
Alms houses could provide a secure base for radical preachers and gave them a captive audience for their beliefs. Robert Dudley used his alms house for the controversial Puritan Robert Cartwright
Alms houses remained places of prayer. These were held daily. There was also regular church attendence
Many founded alms houses in their lifetimes rather than with money left in their wills to distance their act from former Catholic practises
Burghley's alms house, Stamford, Lincolnshire:
The poor men had to be honest Christians, had to meet the vicar on Sunday morning, recite allowed the Lord's Prayer and Apostles Creed and begin to learn the 10 commandments
It was a disciplined community where playing cards and gambling were strictly forbidden
Every Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, and holy day the men would go in their gowns to morning and evening prayer at St. Martins
Failure to attend church without good reason would cost an offender 6d out of his weekly wages, which was 3 shillings for the warden and 2s 4d for the others. These were paid every Sunday after evening prayers
Creating a Lasting Legacy
Why did William Cecil, Lord Burghley, set up the alms houses?
Burghley was concerned about the legacy what he would leave behind. He made sure his sons and daughters behaved properly
Why we're the alms houses founded?
It was a public display and an outward sign of their Christian faith
Landowners showed their virtue and status by providing for elderly tenants and the local poor
The alms houses were a lasting memorial to Burghley's name and family. This was achieved through the building itself, its name and the uniform worn by the alms people. They were often set up in places that were important to the founder. This enabled them to emphasise their local connections, status and to have a physical presence in the area
In the towns alms houses were set up so that the founders gained prestige and respect
Those who founded alms houses gained personal benefit
Burghley's alms house, Stamford, Lincolnshire:
They were a very public show of his charitable work. The rules were set out with great precision, printed by the Royal printer and available for everyone to read
The uniforms were the same distinctive coats worn by Burghley's servants
The poor men were to honour Burghley by always wearing their gowns in public, and by attending on Lord Burghley in the hall in Burghley House on four Sundays during the year
Even after Burghley's death the 13 poor men were to present themselves if any of his heirs came to Stamford and offer their services in memory of their founder
In this was Burghley's alms houses were part of his legacy by providing a continuing service and acting as a lasting memorial to his family
Continuation with the past
Why did attitudes to poverty change?
Richer members of society wanted to provide charity for the poor e.g. Burghley
Not all attitudes changed - some stayed the same:
People opposed the Poor Laws because they didn't like paying taxes
Many didn't believe that it was the government's responsibility - instead it should be dealt with by informal charity
Why did William Cecil, Lord Burghley, set up the alms houses?
He saw it as his responsibility to preserve and maintain a landed society based on rank and status
Why we're the alms houses founded?
Providing for the local poor was the accepted responsibility of a landowner towards his tenants, servants, and neigbours
If the landowner had acquired ex monastic land then alms houses represented continuity with medieval ideas of looking after the poor. Burghley's alms houses at Stamford were built on the site of a 12th century medieval hospital in a deliberate attempt to emphasis continuity with an honourable institution what had been corrupted by popery
The great majority of alms houses were for the deserving elderly. They were seen as appropriate recipients of compassion and charity
Others
Why did attitudes to poverty change?
Beliefs about poverty were changing. Wealthy and powerful people accepted that many of the poor were poor though not fault of their own
Many believed that government intervention was more efficient such as The Book of Orders that controlled scarce food resources when the harvest failed
Lord Burghley was a driving force for government intervention
What did wealthy and powerful Elizabethans do to help the poor?
Many people carried out their own charitable works which might involve building alms houses
Members of the gentry used their new wealth to do this
Our main example is Burghley's alms houses built in Stamford Lincolnshire in 1597. Other egs include John Whitgift in Croydon
The laws of 1572, 1576 and 1598 made it easier for the wealthy to help the poor in this way and led to a surge in the building of alms houses
Why did William Cecil, Lord Burghley, set up the alms houses?
He had received an enormous amount of property through royal patronage, and he made money as Master of the Court of Wards
Why we're the alms houses founded?
A varied group including trades people, country gentry, local clergy, city merchants, great lords, and bishops
Burghley's alms house, Stamford, Lincolnshire:
It was for 13 poor men, and it was on the balls of the River Welland facing up the hill to St. Martin's church where Burghley had been taught as a boy
Burghley would choose and admit 5 of the 13 poor men, and this right would pass to his heirs. The others would be chosen by the vicar, local church wardens and local aldermen
They had to be local men, aged over 35, who lived within 7 miles of Stamford for at least 7 years
Lunatics, drunkards, adulterers, thieves, fraudsters and those suffering from diseases such as leprosy could not be chosen