Experiences of Poverty in Late Medieval and Early Modern England and France ed. by Anne M. Scott

Reviewed by: Experiences of Poverty in Late Medieval and Early Modern England and France ed. by Anne M. Scott Lori Jones Scott, Anne M. (ed.) — Experiences of Poverty in Late Medieval and Early Modern England and France. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2012. Pp. 335. In 2000, Paul Fideler wrote a succinct overview of historiographical trends in early modern poverty relief (Albion 32/3: 381-407). Beginning with the first generation of early twentieth century poor law policy historians, moving through Elton- and Laslett-inspired sociological approaches (and dissenters) to explorations of the impacts of the Reformation and modernist and post-modernist approaches, Fideler concluded his summary with the “paradigm-shattering” late 1990s work of Marjorie McIntosh and Paul Slack. Since 2000, many more studies of the poor and poor relief have appeared; some of the most recent works have shone greater light on the experiences of the poor themselves, rather than on their conceptualization or treatment. Experiences of Poverty follows this trend, and offers important and unique contributions to the historiography. The book was inspired by collaborative work undertaken under the auspices of the Australian Research Council’s Network for Early European Research (NEER). NEER brought together scholars from multiple disciplines and countries, and [End Page 589] emphasized the inclusion of established scholars, early career researchers, and postgraduates. Experiences of Poverty continues this approach: in addition to well-established scholars such as Christopher Dyer, Ann M. Scott, Michael Bennett, Susan Broomhall, and Philippa C. Maddern, about one-third of the book’s authors are recent or current (at the publication date) doctoral candidates. For that reason alone, the book deserves commendation. The particular value of this book is that while the authors unambiguously situate their studies within well-defined historiographical traditions, they base their own research upon previously untapped sources or re-examine known sources from a new perspective. In either case, the result is a refreshing challenge to, or nuancing of, the existing historiography, reflecting a continuum of views and experiences of poverty across countries and centuries. The first third of the book focuses on the poor’s life experiences and survival strategies. Dyer examines manorial court records to identify and trace the (mis)fortunes of more than one hundred people identified as poor; he then builds a cautious prosopography to show how precarious life was for those existing on the edge and how they survived when misfortune fell upon them. Maddern relies on canon law texts, wills, and court records and petitions – rather than demographic statistics – to demonstrate how single mothers of illegitimate children were much more often at the financial mercy of their partners than has hitherto been recognized and were reliant on the courts to gain a modicum of support. Even single young women who could largely support themselves came under the negative scrutiny of parish authorities and were deemed to be “undeserving” in the late sixteenth century, as Lesley Silvester reveals through her genealogical study of Norwich’s Census of the Poor. Taking a contrarian approach, Ann Minister also uses a genealogical methodology to elucidate the positive long-term experiences and outcomes of pauper apprenticeship in rural Derbyshire. Nicholas D. Brodie analyzes a previously unknown manuscript of Exeter’s mid-sixteenth century Accounts of the Poor to reconstruct that city’s administration of poor relief and to suggest that such relief might have started on a broad scale much earlier than previously thought. The second third of the book addresses constructions and modalities of poor relief. Broomhall brings together multiple contemporary sources to trace the rise of sixteenth century secular elite Parisians who created a collective identity from their charitable poor relief work. Lisa Keane Elliot bases her study of the purposeful creation of the Nevers Foundation for single, poor, Catholic girls – and more so its religious and charitable implications – on a single extant manuscript that details the foundation’s attempt at administrative reform ten years after its creation. Margaret Dorey’s detailed analysis of complaints lodged by poor debtor prisoners in eighteenth century London, and subsequent follow-up by City officials, overturns conventional assumptions that these prisoners had access to regular and sufficient quantities and qualities of food and water. Bennett’s discussion of smallpox...

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