Lesson 2

2 The ‘problem’ of the poor Quiz: Pearson Edexcel History, Unit 8

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 2, The ‘problem’ of the poor: 20 multiple choice questions for the Pearson Edexcel GCSE History (1HI0), Unit 8: Early Elizabethan England, 1558–88, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which 1576 Act ordered houses of correction for idle vagrants?

    • Vagabonds Act 1572
    • Poor Relief Act 1576
    • Poor Law 1601
    • Statute of Artificers

  2. What term described people who wandered without work or a fixed home?

    • Burgesses
    • Yeomen
    • Vagabonds
    • Freeholders

  3. What new charge did the 1572 Act introduce to fund poor relief?

    • Voluntary church tax
    • Royal land levy
    • Vagrant import duty
    • Compulsory poor rate

  4. In Elizabethan England, who was classified as part of the deserving poor?

    • Able-bodied vagrants
    • The sick and elderly
    • Runaway apprentices
    • Idle beggars

  5. Which main factor most increased poverty in later Tudor England?

    • Grain exports
    • Population growth
    • Monastery closure
    • Foreign invasion

  6. Which local officers typically administered poor relief in an Elizabethan parish?

    • Bishops and monks
    • Sheriffs and bailiffs
    • Magistrates and lords
    • Churchwardens and overseers

  7. What was the main purpose of Elizabethan houses of correction?

    • Train skilled artisans
    • Provide free housing
    • Treat sick paupers
    • Force idle work

  8. What was the main effect of agricultural enclosure on rural labourers?

    • Loss of common land
    • Guaranteed winter work
    • Free farm ownership
    • Higher daily wages

  9. What did a displaced Elizabethan labourer often become when forced from the land?

    • A wandering vagabond
    • A town councillor
    • A wealthy merchant
    • A parish overseer

  10. Falling wages and rising bread prices in Elizabethan England created a greater need for what?

    • Royal taxation
    • Foreign trade
    • Poor relief
    • Church tithes

  11. Under the 1572 Act, how was Elizabethan parish poor relief funded?

    • Voluntary church donations
    • Monastery land sales
    • National royal taxation
    • A compulsory local rate

  12. How were able-bodied, unlicensed beggars typically punished under Elizabethan law?

    • Whipping and punishment
    • University scholarships
    • Royal pensions
    • Free land grants

  13. Elizabethan parish poor relief was funded by rates and supervised by whom?

    • Foreign ambassadors
    • The Privy Council
    • Local parish officers
    • Travelling judges

  14. How was idleness viewed by the Elizabethan government and authorities?

    • A religious virtue
    • A personal choice
    • A medical condition
    • A social crime

  15. What was the likeliest reason for an Elizabethan parish poor rate doubling in a year?

    • Rising poverty
    • Lower local taxes
    • Abundant harvests
    • Decreased population

  16. Which institution did Elizabethans use to stop idle paupers from roaming?

    • A monastery hospital
    • A public grammar school
    • A house of correction
    • A royal palace

  17. Why did Elizabethan authorities view wandering vagrants as a threat?

    • Crime and disorder
    • Foreign invasion
    • Religious rebellion
    • Food shortages

  18. Which three pressures best explain growing poverty in later Tudor England?

    • Monasteries, guilds, tithes
    • War, famine, plague
    • Population, enclosure, inflation
    • Emigration, wages, tariffs

  19. In what year was the landmark Elizabethan Poor Law passed?

    • 1603
    • 1588
    • 1558
    • 1601

  20. What did Elizabethan authorities use to test and punish idle beggars?

    • Church alms
    • Work tests
    • Foreign travel
    • Free grants

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