Topic summary
Public welfare
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Welfare spending.
History
In later Protestant European nations such as the Dutch Republic, welfare was managed by local guilds until the abolition of the guild system in the early 19th century. In the free imperial cities of the Holy Roman Empire, the city governments in cities like Nuremberg could take control of the collection and distribution of public welfare. In 1520, Martin Luther called for (in an "Appeal to the Christian Nobility of the German nation") the abolition of begging and provisions for those in need. In 1523, following a request by the citizens of Leisnig, in Saxony, Luther devised a plan for a "Common Chest," under which "There shall be ordered for God's house and kept in place for all time, two casks or council chests in which bread, cheese, eggs, meat and other food and provisions shall be placed; and there shall also be a box or two wherein money may be put for the upkeep of the common chest."