The Cry of the Needy: Changing Perceptions of the Sounds of Begging in Late Medieval Germany

Abstract

The sounds of begging permeated medieval urban spaces. For centuries, these sounds were tolerated or even encouraged. City residents acknowledged that begging was a practical necessity, helping the impoverished attract the alms they needed to survive. Moreover, Christian teachings emphasized that the sounds of begging also aided listeners, inspiring the faithful to perform the good works necessary for salvation. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, however, secular and ecclesiastical authorities in German cities began passing laws restricting the times and places that those living in poverty could request charitable assistance. In doing so, these laws recharacterized the sounds of begging as intrusive noise. Scholars have long noticed similar redefinitions of urban noise in the early modern and modern eras; analyzing the late medieval soundscape, this article demonstrates that changing perceptions of the sounds of poverty began centuries earlier, contributing to the delegitimization of the voices of the poor.