‘Wat bedroeft lot is oudt stijf ende arm te wesen’ Waardigheid in verzoekschriften van verarmde Brusselse ouderen, c. 1750-1800.

Authors

  • Anke Verbeke Vrije Universiteit Brussel

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18352/tseg.1000

Keywords:

old age, survival strategies, coping strategies, makeshift economy, Brussels, locus of care, poor relief, alsmhouses, pauper letters

Abstract

‘How sad a fate to be old, stiff and poor’. Deservingness in almshouse application
letters by impoverished Brussels elderly ca. 1750-1800.
This article offers a bottom-up perspective to the research on inclusion processes in
poor relief in general and elderly care and almshouses in specific at the end of the
Ancien Régime. By means of an extensive study of the application letters sent to the
Brussels ‘Twaalf Apostelen’ almshouse between 1750 and 1800, the article examines
how deservingness is anticipated by the elderly applicants and how it is argued in
their discourses. In addition, the article offers insight into the mental framework of
these elderly men surrounding coping strategies and channels through which care
should or could be obtained. By doing this, the article examines to which extent processes
of formalization during previous centuries influenced the mental framework
of the elderly during the second half of the eighteenth century.

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Author Biography

Anke Verbeke, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Anke Verbeke (1994) is doctoraatsstudent aan de Vrije Universiteit Brussel en
het Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen. Haar onderzoek spitst
zich toe op de invloed van structurele sociale, economische en institutionele
verschuivingen op de individuele handelsvrijheid, het weerstandsvermogen
en de overlevingsstrategieën van arme ouderen in Brussel, Antwerpen en Gent
tussen 1750 en 1850.
E-mail: Anke.Verbeke@vub.be

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Published

2019-03-11

How to Cite

Verbeke, A. (2019). ‘Wat bedroeft lot is oudt stijf ende arm te wesen’ Waardigheid in verzoekschriften van verarmde Brusselse ouderen, c. 1750-1800. TSEG - The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History, 15(4), 63–98. https://doi.org/10.18352/tseg.1000

Issue

Section

Research Article