TOPIC 01: Elizabethan Poor Laws

Due to the changes brought by nationalism and the increasing number of people moving from rural to urban areas, poverty and homelessness also increased in Great Britain. As feudalism broke down, and capitalism rose in popularity, mutual obligation of the wealthy and to peasants decreased. This also contributed to the rise of poverty, homelessness and vagrancy. With the conflagration of a central parliament and nationalism, the time was ripe for the passage of the Elizabethan Poor Laws.