New CASS Briefing now available — Language surrounding poverty in early modern England: Constructing seventeenth-century beggars and vagrants

CASSbriefings-povertyLanguage surrounding poverty in early modern England: Constructing seventeenth-century beggars and vagrants. This briefing concentrates upon attitudes towards a subset of poor people – a group who might today be termed beggars or vagrants. Seventeenth century vagrants were a marginalised group: they were overwhelmingly illiterate and politically powerless. By undertaking a study of them, we hope to improve our understanding of a people who were effectively voiceless in their own time. On a practical level, it is important to understand changing discourses on the poor because legislative change was influenced by changing public perceptions of poverty.


New resources are being added regularly to the new CASS: Briefings tab above, so check back soon.