Between 1450 and 1700 the majority of people in Europe were poor and close to starvation. With changing economic and political situations, the attitudes and responses of the poor changed based upon drastic turning points of European history, such as the Reformation, large inflation, and monarchical control. The ways the poor were viewed and treated during this time period was dependent upon a person's social and economic standing, such as those of the wealthy, clergy, and humanists. The wealthy and powerful during the 15th to 17th centuries often viewed the poor as beggars who had little worries. One person who was higher on the social class during this time, William Turner, and English doctor, wrote that the poor “would much rather be sick and live with…show more content… In a sermon by a Catholic priest in the fifteenth century, the priest said that if one “gives a penny to the poor for God while in good health, it will be worth 240 pennies after death.” (Doc 1). Like most other people of the clergy, the priest believed that one should give because it is what God views as a good act. However, Cardinal Richelieu of France did not believe in giving money to the poor, possibly because he was also a royal councillor of France. Like Charles V, he had both his monarchical status and his religion to influence what he thought of the poor. Richelieu calls the poor “good-for-nothings” and that some of the poor are taking “from the sick and deserving poor” (Doc 6). Despite saying this, he continues in saying that he wants France to have rules and regulations for the poor, so that the poor are fed and employed. This was also the time during the Reformation which was caused by the church collecting a lot of money, even from the poor, increasing the divide between the rich and the poor. So many of the clergy, like Charles V, was more concerned about his own wealth and well-being than others’
