| Upper-class and underclass
| | Both upper-class and underclass met in the streets of Elsinore, whose straight lines indicated that everything was under control.
Nearby, Kronborg, which had put the town on the map.
But the conditions of life certainly differed.
|
Oversæt
Elsinore had, because of the Sound duty quite an international atmosphere. The French diplomat Ogier relates extensively his first meeting with he town of Elsinore in ½1634. We are among other things taken to the best public house in town, where the French messenger lodged.
Elsinore 1658 | 
Elsinore Befor 1658 | 
The Mayor Family Leyel | 
Mother and Children | 
Thot´s Diary |
The Poor
For the underclass, the large group, which stood outside the community in the established society, there were almost no opportunities. Many lived on the outer edge of society, hung out edge of town and lived on begging, prostitution or crime.
The church probably did a lot and the fine box of the guilds also contributed to the support of the poor. As mentioned earlier they had in the old Our Lady monastery established Elsinore Public Hospital (1541), which treated the sick and poor. This institution had a good economy as it had the rights to collect some of the king´s part of the tithe in a number of neighbouring parishes, and it also had income from its land in Scania. Here meals were provided for the poor, but also for the students and teachers at the grammar school.
The Pillory |
The Poor Relief
The poor relief of the time implied that every town took care of its own poor. The distributed beggar tags, which were to be carried by the poor and they appointed beggar kings, who should help to expose beggars, who did not belong to the town.
In the 17th century the poor relief was systemized more. A report from 1695 states the size of the public means, which were at the poor relief´s disposal and how th money was distributed. A principal was hired to administrate the poor relief. Of the means they commanded in 1695, support was given to 66 people in the ages 1-90, and 69 people in the ages 20-87 had permission to beg. |