Towards the roots of social welfare

Abstract

As the Inquisition unfolded in Spain, the humanist Joan Lluis Vives left Valencia for Paris, and probably settled in Bruges as early as 1512. He travelled Europe and frequented elite intellectual and political circles in France, England and Belgium. It was in Bruges that in 1525 he started writing his De subventione pauperum, to be published there in 1526. This would become the intellectual and ethical basis of European urban poverty relief policies of the 16th century and beyond. In many respects this publication contains the principles of the contemporary active welfare state although, in the 16th century, the Church was still dominant in poverty relief and no social policy could take effect without its passive or active approval.