Relief Institutions In Early Modern England: Types, Comparisons And Influences

As early as the 10 th century,there were relief institutions for the poor in England.Functions of these institutions are often very simple and they do not provide differentiated relief to the poor.In early modern England,with the government taking over the work of helping the poor,the society's view on poverty changed and differentiated relief became more and more obvious.Different degrees of relief were given to the disabled,the unemployed,the poor children and the poor patients,at the same time,new relief institutions appeared.On the basis of above reasons,relief way is the classification criteria.In the first three parts of this article,these relief institutions will be divided into material relief,labor relief and medical relief institutions in early modern England,I will make my effort to show the England common forms of relief institutions at that time,and combing the whole situation of salvage operation,including the source of funds and ways to raise,the scopes and ways of relief and the organization management modes.The fourth part of this article compares the characteristics of times,ways of relief,organization management modes and so on from the perspectives of diachrony and synchronicity.It can be seen from the analysis and comparison that although there were some defects with poor relief in the early modern England,it objectively promoted social equity,maintained social stability and enhanced the national identity.It also contributed to the establishment and development of the national economic and social security system in England,and provided a reference for other countries.