From 1450 to 1700 the economy of Europe began to majorly change. Mercantilism was on the uprise which meant Europe began to focus more on their trade and commerce. This lead to many individuals to having a hard time gaining wealth because the government was doing everthing on a large scale. Many Europeans were just barely getting by. Then the poor would have to go to the extremes and beg and steal to make money for themselves. This lead to many different reactions from the upperclass men. In Europe from 1450 to 1700 people reacted to the poor people of Europe in many different ways. The people of Europe treated the poor with sympathy and they presented them with small acts of kindness but some of the people of Europe also saw the poor as lazy. …show more content…
For example, in a town council meeting in Rouen, France the town council said, “Those unwilling to work should indeed be expelled from the city” (doc. 5). The town council is meeting and they are discussing their problem with the poor. They have decided that there should be certain rules and laws in place to keep the poor from being idle because idleness is harmful to the public good. They are looking at this as personal problem because the poor are harming their city and they have to figure out a way to fix it. Another example of these rules and regulations come from the poorhouse regulations. The poorhouse regulations say “Every strong rogue, at his or her first entrance into the house, shall have 12 stripes with the whip on the bare skin and every young rogue or idle loiterer shall have 6 stripes in the same manner. All unruly and stubborn persons shall be corrected oftener and given heavier shackles, a thinner diet, and harder labor until they are brought to reasonable obedience and submission to the master of the poorhouse” (doc. 7). The poorhouse had these certain rules and regulations to keep the poor in check and to keep them from acting up. They would beat them and starve them until they stopped acting up. This shows how the people would control the poor at this time. Another example showing the rules and regulations established for the poor is from Cardinal Richelieu in his unofficial statement on poverty. Richelieu said “We desire that in every town in our kingdom rules and regulations for the poor should be established, so that not only all those of the said town but also of the neighboring areas should be confined and fed, and those who are able to do so should be employed on public works” (doc. 8). In this Richelieu is saying that a society with rules and regulations for the poor is better off. He is saying that the poor need to be