The Poor Act of 1555 was a law passed in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Queen Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

. It is a part of the

Tudor Poor Laws The Tudor Poor Laws were the laws regarding poor relief in the Kingdom of England around the time of the Tudor period (1485–1603). The Tudor Poor Laws ended with the passing of the Elizabethan Poor Law in 1601, two years before the end of th ...

. It extended the Poor Act of 1552 and added a provision that licensed beggars must wear badges. The provision requiring badges was added to shame local community members into donating more alms to their

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

for poor relief.Paul Slack, The English Poor Law 1531-1782 59--60

References

{{Poor Law English Poor Laws Acts of the Parliament of England (1485–1603) 1555 in law 1555 in England