Poverty was not simply an economic condition in the Middle Ages—it was also bound up with religion, political authority and social power. Julia McClure examines how medieval attitudes towards the poor changed and why providing for them became central to both Church and state.
By Julia McClure
It is commonly thought that the concept of poverty became a political subject with the birth of political economy in the eighteenth century, but poverty, and especially the obligation to provide for the poor, had been central to politics for far longer.
In the Roman Empire, elites maintained political and economic stability by taxing and distributing grain to all citizens (known as the Annona system). Elites consolidated their power through the performance of ‘doing good’ (euergetism), donating gifts to those with fewer resources. When the Roman Empire converted to Christianity from the start of the fourth century following the conversion of the emperor Constantine in 312, a new religious meaning of poverty became central to politics.
Protectors and Providers of the Poor
St. Francis giving his mantle to a poor man. From the Upper Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi, part of the Scenes of the life of Saint Francis by Giotto (1266–1337). Saint Francis (1181/82–1226), the son of a prosperous Italian silk merchant, was inspired to devote himself to a life of poverty. He founded the Franciscans, a mendicant begging order dedicated to living a life like Christ and helping the sick and the poor. The order was officially founded on April 16, 1210. Wikimedia Commons.
Christianity had emerged in the Middle East as a Judaic sect. Its followers believed that God had lived on earth in the body of a poor man, Jesus Christ, and had instructed his followers that they should give up their possessions in order to follow him (Matthew 19:21). The Christian religion promoted the idea that the poor were somehow closer to God and could more easily achieve salvation (Mark 10:25), and it also taught of the so-called ‘mystique of the poor’, the idea that God could be hidden in the ranks of the poor (Matthew 25:40). The Christian Church built its power upon the notion that it was the protector and provider of the poor. Throughout the Middle Ages, Church institutions became wealthy and powerful, leading to tensions between Church and state institutions.
In the thirteenth century, new socio-religious movements emerged that focused upon the moral-religious importance of poverty, in response to the new forms of poverty being created by the emergence of money and markets and the slow transition to capitalism. These became known as the mendicant, or begging, orders. Foremost amongst these were the Franciscans, who voluntarily abdicated from both individual and common property. When they first emerged, the Church feared the political message that the followers of St. Francis were sending by reminding Christians of the spiritual importance of poverty. It was seen not simply as a religious act, but also as a political criticism of the accumulated wealth and power of the Church. Early groups that had based their lives upon a radical interpretation of poverty, most notably the Waldensians, had been condemned as heretics. The Franciscans narrowly avoided charges of heresy and finally had the Rule for their new Order papally approved in 1223.
Despite the tentative acceptance of the Franciscan Order, their interpretation and performance of religious poverty remained politically charged. Debates about the proper religious interpretation of poverty continued throughout the Middle Ages, coming to a head in the Franciscan poverty disputes of the fourteenth century. During these debates, the papacy ruled that it was heretical to make certain historical claims about the sanctity of poverty, arguing that in the Garden of Eden Adam had lordship over the things he used, and that Christ, although poor, had carried a purse to condescend to the poor. These rulings may seem obscure, but they contributed to the broader process of the desacralization that was taking place across medieval Europe.
How Poverty Changed in the Late Middle Ages
The poor come begging in this scene from the Morgan Picture Bible – Morgan Library & Museum, New York, Ms M. 638
Late medieval Europe was a time of socio-economic, political, and ideological transformations, and the concept of poverty was at the heart of these. Increased urbanization and marketization, together with the erosion of common use rights that had been important to mitigating the risks of resource scarcity in the countryside, all contributed to the making of a new kind of socio-economic poverty. Poverty and scarcity are not the same thing; one becomes poor when one loses the socio-economic and environmental resources necessary for mitigating the risks of resource scarcity. The new form of socio-economic poverty being produced in the late Middle Ages was to become characterized by social alienation, and this would become more pronounced as capitalism developed.
Ideologically, attitudes towards the poor were beginning to change. This was partly due to the rise of civic humanism, whereby the translation of classic philosophers such as Aristotle led to new ideas about the virtue of riches rather than poverty, and partly due to broader changing moral attitudes towards the poor.
From Caring for the Poor to Controlling Them
Woodcut of a gentleman giving alms to a beggar. From illustration for “Of Pride” in John Day’s A Christall Glasse of Christian Reformation, London, 1569. Wikimedia Commons.
While the wandering poor had been seen as Christlike in the Middle Ages, by the start of early modernity they were starting to be associated with criminality. Older notions of poverty did not disappear, and there was continued recognition that giving to the poor was important for good governance and moral society; in this way poverty maintained its political importance.
As previously mentioned, throughout the Middle Ages the Church had developed its wealth and power by situating itself as the provider and protector of the poor. At the start of early modernity in the sixteenth century, state authorities began challenging the Church’s monopoly over providing for the poor. This led to the institutional shakeup that characterized the Protestant Reformation, but reforms also took place in Catholic countries. During the early modern period, finding new ways to both care for and control the poor became central to projects of state formation.
Throughout history, the concept of poverty has played a political role, and transformations of the concept of poverty have reflected broader socio-economic, political, and ideological transformations. The moral obligation to provide for the poor has been important to justifying and consolidating the power of different states and empires. How the poor were conceptualized reflected the broader ideological and socio-economic context of society. New forms of poverty emerged with the transition to capitalism that started in Italy’s market towns in the thirteenth century and accelerated across Europe in the sixteenth.
This new form of poverty was characterized by increased social alienation. The poor were increasingly scrutinized and differentiated into the moral categories of ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor. The category of deserving poor reinforced paternalistic power structures, while the category of undeserving poor made it possible to criminalize the poor and sentence them to penal labor. Understanding the long political history of poverty can help us to understand the world we live in today and the structure of its inequalities.
Julia McClure is a global historian of the Spanish Empire, specializing in poverty, charity, and inequality. She has published broadly on the history of poverty, rights, and institutions. Her first monograph, The Franciscan Invention of the New World, explored the role of missionaries in the early Atlantic world. Her recent book, Empire of Poverty: The Moral Economy of the Spanish Empire, explores the role of the ideology of poverty in empire formation. McClure is a lecturer in late medieval and early modern global history at the University of Glasgow. She is the founder of the poverty research network and co-founder of the food sovereignty network.
Poverty was not simply an economic condition in the Middle Ages—it was also bound up with religion, political authority and social power. Julia McClure examines how medieval attitudes towards the poor changed and why providing for them became central to both Church and state.
By Julia McClure
It is commonly thought that the concept of poverty became a political subject with the birth of political economy in the eighteenth century, but poverty, and especially the obligation to provide for the poor, had been central to politics for far longer.
In the Roman Empire, elites maintained political and economic stability by taxing and distributing grain to all citizens (known as the Annona system). Elites consolidated their power through the performance of ‘doing good’ (euergetism), donating gifts to those with fewer resources. When the Roman Empire converted to Christianity from the start of the fourth century following the conversion of the emperor Constantine in 312, a new religious meaning of poverty became central to politics.
Protectors and Providers of the Poor
Christianity had emerged in the Middle East as a Judaic sect. Its followers believed that God had lived on earth in the body of a poor man, Jesus Christ, and had instructed his followers that they should give up their possessions in order to follow him (Matthew 19:21). The Christian religion promoted the idea that the poor were somehow closer to God and could more easily achieve salvation (Mark 10:25), and it also taught of the so-called ‘mystique of the poor’, the idea that God could be hidden in the ranks of the poor (Matthew 25:40). The Christian Church built its power upon the notion that it was the protector and provider of the poor. Throughout the Middle Ages, Church institutions became wealthy and powerful, leading to tensions between Church and state institutions.
In the thirteenth century, new socio-religious movements emerged that focused upon the moral-religious importance of poverty, in response to the new forms of poverty being created by the emergence of money and markets and the slow transition to capitalism. These became known as the mendicant, or begging, orders. Foremost amongst these were the Franciscans, who voluntarily abdicated from both individual and common property. When they first emerged, the Church feared the political message that the followers of St. Francis were sending by reminding Christians of the spiritual importance of poverty. It was seen not simply as a religious act, but also as a political criticism of the accumulated wealth and power of the Church. Early groups that had based their lives upon a radical interpretation of poverty, most notably the Waldensians, had been condemned as heretics. The Franciscans narrowly avoided charges of heresy and finally had the Rule for their new Order papally approved in 1223.
Despite the tentative acceptance of the Franciscan Order, their interpretation and performance of religious poverty remained politically charged. Debates about the proper religious interpretation of poverty continued throughout the Middle Ages, coming to a head in the Franciscan poverty disputes of the fourteenth century. During these debates, the papacy ruled that it was heretical to make certain historical claims about the sanctity of poverty, arguing that in the Garden of Eden Adam had lordship over the things he used, and that Christ, although poor, had carried a purse to condescend to the poor. These rulings may seem obscure, but they contributed to the broader process of the desacralization that was taking place across medieval Europe.
How Poverty Changed in the Late Middle Ages
Late medieval Europe was a time of socio-economic, political, and ideological transformations, and the concept of poverty was at the heart of these. Increased urbanization and marketization, together with the erosion of common use rights that had been important to mitigating the risks of resource scarcity in the countryside, all contributed to the making of a new kind of socio-economic poverty. Poverty and scarcity are not the same thing; one becomes poor when one loses the socio-economic and environmental resources necessary for mitigating the risks of resource scarcity. The new form of socio-economic poverty being produced in the late Middle Ages was to become characterized by social alienation, and this would become more pronounced as capitalism developed.
Ideologically, attitudes towards the poor were beginning to change. This was partly due to the rise of civic humanism, whereby the translation of classic philosophers such as Aristotle led to new ideas about the virtue of riches rather than poverty, and partly due to broader changing moral attitudes towards the poor.
From Caring for the Poor to Controlling Them
While the wandering poor had been seen as Christlike in the Middle Ages, by the start of early modernity they were starting to be associated with criminality. Older notions of poverty did not disappear, and there was continued recognition that giving to the poor was important for good governance and moral society; in this way poverty maintained its political importance.
As previously mentioned, throughout the Middle Ages the Church had developed its wealth and power by situating itself as the provider and protector of the poor. At the start of early modernity in the sixteenth century, state authorities began challenging the Church’s monopoly over providing for the poor. This led to the institutional shakeup that characterized the Protestant Reformation, but reforms also took place in Catholic countries. During the early modern period, finding new ways to both care for and control the poor became central to projects of state formation.
Throughout history, the concept of poverty has played a political role, and transformations of the concept of poverty have reflected broader socio-economic, political, and ideological transformations. The moral obligation to provide for the poor has been important to justifying and consolidating the power of different states and empires. How the poor were conceptualized reflected the broader ideological and socio-economic context of society. New forms of poverty emerged with the transition to capitalism that started in Italy’s market towns in the thirteenth century and accelerated across Europe in the sixteenth.
This new form of poverty was characterized by increased social alienation. The poor were increasingly scrutinized and differentiated into the moral categories of ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor. The category of deserving poor reinforced paternalistic power structures, while the category of undeserving poor made it possible to criminalize the poor and sentence them to penal labor. Understanding the long political history of poverty can help us to understand the world we live in today and the structure of its inequalities.
Julia McClure is a global historian of the Spanish Empire, specializing in poverty, charity, and inequality. She has published broadly on the history of poverty, rights, and institutions. Her first monograph, The Franciscan Invention of the New World, explored the role of missionaries in the early Atlantic world. Her recent book, Empire of Poverty: The Moral Economy of the Spanish Empire, explores the role of the ideology of poverty in empire formation. McClure is a lecturer in late medieval and early modern global history at the University of Glasgow. She is the founder of the poverty research network and co-founder of the food sovereignty network.
Top Image: British Library MS Harley 4425 fol. 73
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