Rich and poor, they are relative concepts. In the early modern period, people were poor if they earned too little to stay alive. Now the Dutchman is poor if he becomes socially isolated due to a lack of money. The view on poverty has changed several times in the past:a walk through the past to close the Month of History 2012.
Not only do the definitions of poverty and wealth change over time, the way of thinking about poor people also changes. This has to do with both religious changes and economies of scale. In the Middle Ages the towns were small and the inhabitants knew exactly who had it occasionally or permanently. These poor, often widows, orphans, the elderly or handicapped, earned too little to support themselves. They received help from family and neighbors, money and bread from the church and alms from passers-by.
To Purgatory
In this period poverty was absolutely no disgrace. A poor person was the image of Jesus and by helping him or her you benefited your own soul. The Roman Catholic faith dictated that at the end of each person's life, during the Last Judgment, God decided how long the sinner would have to burn in purgatory before he could go to heaven. And that you had to go to purgatory first was certain.
No one, except saints, had lived without sin. You could shorten the inevitable time in the flames by doing good works. The seven acts of mercy, as described in the Bible, were therefore very important to the people:feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the travellers, visiting the prisoners, taking care of the sick and burying the dead.
Memori culture
In return, the receiver prayed for the giver, bringing the latter's salvation closer. The holier (think nuns and priests) or the poorer the person who prayed for you, the more effect the prayer had. This principle of the memori or commemoration culture also applied to privately founding or bequeathing money to institutions, such as almshouses for the elderly. The regulations of these institutions specified exactly how often the residents should pray for the deceased founder. This could vary from once a year to daily.
The memori culture also continued to exist after the arrival of Protestantism in the 16 e century. The Amsterdam merchant Octavio Francisco Tensini, for example, left 60,000 guilders to the Catholic parish of the poor in 1675. Today that would be an amount of more than half a ton. The condition for this generous gift was therefore that a soul mass would be read for him daily and for eternity, which also continued well into the 20 th century happened.
One of the reasons that the protestants are in the 16 e century separating from the Catholic faith was this "towing relationship" to God. In Protestant eyes it was everyone's Christian duty to care for the poor. According to them, with good deeds or worse, with indulgences, buying off your sins was not possible.
The Calvinistic doctrine of predestination assumes that God has already determined before birth whether someone is a true Christian, a chosen one. Doing good works does not affect your soul salvation but rather is a result of this chosen position. When, after the Alteration in 1578, the Reformed Church becomes the official church in the northern Netherlands and thereby acquires the most privileges, the view on the poor will change drastically.
The world is changing
Around 1500 Europe drifted adrift due to rising population growth and wars. A new group of poor people reached the city:itinerant poor, beggars and vagabonds, in search of work and alms. Because poor relief was not organized and this group knocked on doors everywhere, the fund for poor relief quickly ran out.
This itinerant group was seen as dishonest poor in comparison with its 'own' poor. They were healthy in body and limb and could therefore work in themselves, provided there was work to be found. Residents of the city found these beggars very annoying because they were indistinguishable from the honest poor. A pinnacle of the fear of begging fraud was the Liber Vagatorum (the book of the vagabonds) from 1510. Here all kinds of rip-offs by beggars were described in detail. From the stupid games to the hiding of limbs. The result was a ban on begging.
Who is hungry must eat and without work the step to crime was small. The group of dishonest poor therefore included criminals and vagabonds:every city would rather see them go than come. The new Protestant church took a much more professional approach:every poor person had to register with the deacons, board members specially appointed for poor relief. There he or she received a weekly contribution.
The deacons did pay attention to the way of life:dishonest poor people did not get in and if the poor could often be found in the pub, his contribution was cut. But despite the fact that the itinerant poor fell by the wayside with the authorities, they were not completely left to their own devices. When someone lay dying in the gutter, he was taken to the guest house. The chance that you got out of there alive was just not that great.
End of 16 e century the correctional houses opened their doors, with Amsterdam as the frontrunner. Here vagabonds could learn what work and discipline were, which should bring them back on the right path. The punishments were harsh at the time and a thief caught a second time ended up on the gallows.
The city councils no longer wanted to apply this to young people. The educational idea behind the Disciplinary House therefore mainly applied to young people, who were afraid that they would literally grow up on a gallows and wheel. Elderly people who ended up in the Disciplinary House were seen as cheap labour. Too old to learn but at least no longer roaming the streets. Too many beggars was not good for the reputation of the city.
Honor is at stake
Reputation and honor were not only very important for the city but also for its inhabitants. When someone's reputation was violated, this created difficulties in daily life:for example, you could no longer buy on the cheap and nobody wanted to lend you money. Was a poor man in the Middle Ages still the image of Jesus, in the 17 e century the picture was a lot less positive. The poor were looked at through different glasses and checked whether they really were as poor as they said. This led to the feeling of shame. Especially for respected citizens who were members of a guild and participated in the militia.
When citizens fell into poverty because of disappointing income, this was usually temporary. These citizens postponed going to the poor relief for as long as possible. In order to accommodate them, these 'shame arms' also received help in secret. They wouldn't have to stand in line with the rest of the poor for a few nickels.
However, this did not apply to the majority of the poor:the sense of shame was used by the dominant Protestant church to ensure that the poor only asked for help when it was really necessary. It is estimated that in the 17 e century, about 25 percent of the lower bourgeoisie of small craftsmen came into contact with poor relief at least once in his or her life. It was only very different per city how many poor there were among the population and also how the distribution was organised.
In Amsterdam, for example, there was always work to be found, so that the group of uncontrollable and itinerant poor were less likely to turn to poor relief. It was therefore mainly organized by denomination. The Reformed Church took care of its members, the Lutheran Church for the Lutherans, the Jewish congregation for the Jewish poor and the Catholic Church, although not recognized, for the Catholics.
In addition, cities also founded institutions that were intended for all inhabitants, such as the orphanage. Here a distinction was made between the children of civilians and poor orphans. The latter were far worse off than the former, who were educated, learned a trade, and received better food and clothing. There were also children in the orphanage whose parents were still alive, but who could not afford the maintenance of their children.
Who pays?
Funding for the care of the poor had not changed. During the Middle Ages, the common man was the greatest financier and remained so until the 20 e century. Churches raised money through collections and that money ended up in the treasury for poor relief. When the city council wanted to open a charitable institution, it was mainly paid for by private money. The city made a piece of land available and the inhabitants paid the rest.
Competitions were also organized to raise money, such as a lottery for the Oudemannenhuis in Haarlem (the building now houses the Frans Hals Museum). These lots were in great demand throughout Holland. A small portion of the profit was used as prize money for gold and silver tableware and the rest of the proceeds went towards building the institution.
In addition to the ecclesiastical collections on Sundays, the Reformed collectors knocked on doors in Amsterdam four times a year. Their arrival had been announced and someone had to be home. Above the doors of members, the members of the Reformed Church, was the letter L so that the collectors knew where to go. They knocked on everyone's door, from rich to poor. This is a good example of the idea that it was the duty of society to care for the poor and not the duty of the government. Everyone contributed to that, even if you were poor yourself. This way of thinking about poor relief would not be until the 19 e century.
After fat years come lean years
The 18 e century was a century of rising poverty due to growing unemployment. In itself, the people did not give less money to the collection, but there were more poor people to support from that amount. The governments created extra taxes, the proceeds of which went to relief for the poor, but that also proved insufficient. Cities even started handing out direct subsidies to tackle poverty, but it was a mop with the tap open. From 1780 to 1860, the largest downward spiral in Dutch prosperity ever took place. (Napoleon Bonaparte contributed to this by plundering the country during his reign.) Result:the number of poor continued to grow, causing the poor relief system to collapse.
The Reformed Church had lost its privileged position after the establishment of the Batavian Republic. The question was who should take care of the growing group of poor people. The government was still not primarily responsible for this problem, but it did support private initiatives.
For example, former officer Johannes van den Bosch started the Society of Benevolence in 1818, an employment and education project in inaccessible Drenthe. Here he started colonies to support families who had fallen into poverty during the French Era. They could work the land there as farmers and learn what it was like to live as a decent family. Van den Bosch received support, even from King Willem I, but also a lot of criticism, especially from the conservative Christian quarter. The poor and needy would be part of society, so that the rich and wealthy could show their mercy as a sign of Christian charity.
The poor themselves were generally not eager for this form of poor relief, however well-intentioned. They preferred to seek help from family, neighbors and the church. In order to provide the projects with workers, poor relief institutions such as orphanages, which were (partly) paid for by the city government, had to supply the people. Ultimately, this private initiative failed and the educational colonies turned into penal camps for criminals.
The genesis of philanthropy
Care for the poor remained in the 19 e century mainly a task of the churches. They did not want it any other way, afraid of losing members if they received poor relief from the government. She would therefore prefer to have all power over poor relief and abolish all political interference. With the introduction of the national Poor Law in 1854, the churches largely got their way:it was now legally arranged that most of the responsibility for the poor rested with the churches. When there were no other options for the poor, they were allowed to report to the government for help.
The churches could no longer cope with poverty alone and also slowly lost influence in society due to scientific ideas such as the theory of evolution. Initiatives arose to tackle poverty without ecclesiastical slant. It was new that the poor were not only viewed through a Christian lens, but also through a philanthropic one.
These new humanists no longer wanted to help the poor out of Christian duty but out of charity. They thought about solutions to the problems and worked together on this. An example of this is the subscription philanthropy. Interested parties could register for a project and thus jointly finance it. For example, for the construction of a park because healthy, fresh air was good for workers.
New poor due to large-scale impoverishment
After 1860, industrialization in the Netherlands finally continued. With this development, the number of impoverished workers, including children, and the slums grew. These developments generated new responses to poverty. The liberals wanted to get rid of the restrictions that regulated the economy too much:a free market would benefit the economy and then solve the problem of poverty. This turned out not to work. The rich enriched themselves and the rich industrialists in particular had an interest in employees who could not make too many demands.
In the cities the poor families lived in the stinking slums full of vermin. The open sewers caused regular outbreaks of cholera epidemics. The rich didn't get into these back streets and didn't usually know how bad it was. Most didn't need that either. Poverty was simply a part of life and the poor had to know their place and keep their mouths shut.
Employers who were concerned about the poor conditions of their workers, usually did so for practical reasons. Companies such as Philips and Stork 'Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen en railwaymaterieel' built houses for their staff with low rents near the factory. Better housing kept the workers healthy and they could also be monitored.
Poverty therefore had to be curbed to a certain extent, but mainly to keep the economy going. This was against the sore leg of the Socialists. They did not want charities or paternalistic employers but jobs for the workers. They gained more and more followers at the end of the 19th century. They also criticized the religious care for the poor because of the patronizing of the poor.
New century, new rights
With the rise of photography, photos of the miserable living conditions in the city and in the Drenthe sod huts spread. This caused much indignation among the wealthy bourgeoisie. Local authorities felt the increased pressure and took steps to combat the abuses among the poorest sections of the population. To reduce the slums, for example, they had social housing built and sewerage installed.
These developments slowly created a new mindset about the poor. They were no longer seen as some kind of children who could not take care of themselves and needed education. After the introduction of Universal Suffrage in 1917, the political parties had a large group of new voters to take into account.
The Christian, socialist and liberal parties jointly set up the welfare state:the Emergency Old Age Provision Act (1947, followed by the AOW), the General Widows and Orphans Act (1961) and the General Assistance Act (1965). With this, the government had taken over the care tasks, as a new father. With a big difference:poor relief was no longer something to be grateful for, it had become a right.