What Was Life Like for Poor People in Tudor Times?

Tudor Beggars

In 1570 there were more than 10,000 homeless people wandering the roads, looking for work and begging.

Tudor Beggars

In 1547, a law was made ordering vagrants to be whipped and sent to their home towns.

Types of Poor People

People on the breadline

The "deserving poor",e.g. the very young, the very old, and disabled people

Sturdy rogues: vagrants and people who moved about looking for work.

There were many kinds of poor people.

Poor FamiliesFamilies would wander with their children begging for money or food.Some parents would deliberately injure their children to get more money from the rich.

Tudor Punishments

• being chained to stocks• hanging • burning to death• whipping • dunking in a river • branding with a hot iron

If people were caught begging they would be punished.

AlmshousesAlmshouses were sometimes built for the elderly and deserving poor. The money for building and keeping the almshouses was provided by the rich.

How could you sum up the lives of poor people

in Tudor times?

LI: To investigate the differences between the lives of rich and poor people in Tudor times

Talk Partner Challenge!

How would you know that a Tudor house belongs to a rich

person?What are the clues?

Talk Partner Challenge!Rich people had a

healthier diet than poor people.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement and

why?

Talk Partner Challenge!Do you think poor people enjoyed leisure activities like hunting and archery?

Explain your answer with examples from what you

know about Tudor people.