How did Elizabeth deal with the problems of poor people and beggars?

Some vagabonds were sick or too old to work. Rogues were another type of beggar. They were fit to work but found that begging and stealing was an easier way of life. Rogues and Vagabonds were one of Elizabeth’s biggest problems. Often people called them sturdy beggars.

One writer reckoned that there were over 10 000 of them out of a population of less than five million. Gangs of them roamed the country , also sleeping very rough on streets and terrorising lots of people in lots of towns and Villages.

Wandering beggars who appeared to be healthy were punished cruelly. They were called vagrants or vagabonds.                            

 

THIS IS A PICTURE OF A VAGABOND.

Vagrants loiter on streets and beg or steel from people of any age. Beggars knew at this time the law would HELP them if they were disabled. They also knew the law would PUNISH those beggars who were fit and healthy.