What exactly is a beggar

People who do not work, but ask other people to give them money and food, are called beggars. Today, beggars are looked on with suspicion, because people feel that many of them could get jobs if they wanted to. But hundreds of years ago, in the Middle Ages, beggars were religious men who were very much respected. The first beggars are supposed to have been a group of religious people called the Beghards, who lived in Europe about six hundred years ago.

Many monks felt that they were honoring God by giving up all their possessions, and taking a vow of poverty. These monks wandered through the cities, begging in the name of the Church. People believed that giving alms, or charity, to these religious men was a way of obtaining future happiness. These monks were known as "begging friars." They used the money to help the sick and the poor. But many other people, who were greedy, and who saw in this custom a way to make some easy money, used begging to get rich, without doing any work.

More and more people who did not belong to the Church began to beg, until there were beggars all over Europe. Countries began to pass laws forbidding people to beg, but little could be done to stop it. Some countries whipped beggars, or put them in jail if they were caught. Today begging is forbidden in many countries, but the laws are not strictly enforced. People feel that the only way begging can be stopped is to take care of the poor who deserve it, and to force the others to take jobs or go hungry.