Crime and Punishment / 1349-1500
Crime and Punishment: Later Medieval Vagrancy
Beggars and vagabonds were treated more harshly as the Middle Ages went on.
What To Remember
- Vagrants or vagabonds were homeless wanderers, often treated as a danger to society.
- The Black Death changed work, wages and movement, making rulers more anxious about labour control.
- The Statute of Labourers in 1349 and Statute of Cambridge in 1388 show harsher attitudes to able-bodied beggars.
Black Death changes
After the Black Death, labour was in short supply and some peasants could demand better wages or move to find work.
Towns grew, travel became more common, and the old village-based system became harder to control.
For some people this created opportunity, but others found no work and survived by begging or stealing.
Beggars and vagabonds
Vagrants were often described as homeless people who wandered and begged for food or money.
The workbook notes that by around 1500 more people were being charged with vagrancy.
Attitudes hardened because many richer people linked wandering poverty with theft, disorder and refusal to work.
New laws
The Statute of Labourers in 1349 said no alms should be given to able-bodied beggars.
The Statute of Cambridge in 1388 said people who could not work should not move around the country, while able-bodied beggars could be severely punished.
This is a useful comparison with the early modern period: both periods feared vagabonds, but Tudor punishments became even harsher.
Revision Prompt
How did the Black Death help change attitudes towards beggars and vagabonds?