Masterless Men

Vagrants, often referred to as travelers, wanderers, or vagabonds, are defined by being rootless and roofless, a phrase coined by modern scholar Robert Humphreys in his 1999 book, .

In early modern England, as today, people lived in a context defined by their social and economic status. The wandering poor, often called masterless men, caused significant worry in the period. These were commoners who had no allegiance or ties to the ruling classes and thus had both less supervision and less social support. One surprising fact is that actors were considered vagrants unless they had the patronage of a master over the rank of baron, hence the sponsorship of acting companies by noblemen and by monarchs.

Strict laws against vagrancy were enforced only sporadically. Able-bodied men over age fourteen who had no visible means of support, often dispossessed farm laborers, were punished with public whipping and a hole burned through their right ear on a first offence; they could be hanged for a second offense. Unemployed people were shunted from parish to parish until they could find someone willing to give them work.

Who Were Vagrants?

These masterless men (and women) were seen as a serious threat to the stability of society, largely because they were perceived as potential criminals. Who were the largest groups of people most likely to be vagrants or beggars? Veterans: Many soldiers returned from fighting overseas injured, possibly lacking a hand, arm or leg, and thus unable to work. Genuine beggars—the people with permanent disabilities who could not work for a living—were able to get a license to beg and did receive some support from local almshouses and Justices of the Peace. The rural poor: These were mainly widowed women with no trade or means of support, but a significant number were common farm laborers who were often without work during the winter. Local eccentrics: These were unusual people, many of whom we could now characterize as intellectually disabled or mentally ill. They were tolerated in some communities and driven out of others. Occasionally, the local Church of England parish supported them or helped their families support or guide them. The urban poor: In growing cities, and especially in London, the poor were a significant public welfare problem. As the Elizabethan economy destabilized in the 1590s, they became even more of a problem. City authorities tried to prevent both begging and the subdivision of houses into small one or two room tenements that landlords rented to the poor. Then, as now, overcrowding in poorer neighborhoods was a problem.

The laws of early modern England were expressed in terms of the employment of men, but there were as many women and children who suffered from poverty due to economic disadvantages. Similar to the present day, many women turned to prostitution to support themselves or their children when they had no other option for work.

Vagrancy and the Players of Early Modern England

The type of lifestyle correlated with vagrancy mimics that of players in and around the 16th century. Players often travelled vast distances looking for work or touring with theatrical shows, meaning they were often the strangers coming into towns and cities around the realm. As scholars Katie Sambrook and John Wilby observe: The inclusion of unpatronised players within officially proscribed vagrant groups was not only to prevent professional beggars from disguising themselves as actors, but also reflected unease at the politically and socially subversive potential of unlicensed performance itself. In the febrile atmosphere of the Tudor period, with its religious upheavals and political instability, the state sought to control criticism and dissent in public performance with a steadily hardening approach to players and companies.

Only their connection to a playing company, such as The Lord Admiral’s Men or The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, kept actors from being arrested for vagrancy by suspicious officials in country towns. A 1572 law, the Acte for the Punishment of Vagabonds and the Relief of the Poor and Impotent declared actors vagabonds and masterless men and hence were subject to arrest and imprisonment. A 1597 law, An Acte for Punishment of Rogues, Vagabonds and Sturdie Beggers continued to exempt members of licensed playing companies from any sanction, although it did not exempt them from suspicion.

Potentially Vagrant Characters in Shakespeare’s Writing

Shakespeare wrote often about vagrancy with both disapproval and curiosity. Some of the most notable examples of characters with vagrant characteristics in Shakespeare’s works range in importance and social status, which reflects the very nature of vagrancy and its multifaceted presence in society during Shakespeare’s times.

Falstaff in : One of Prince Hal’s (the future King Henry V) oldest friends is a knight in rank but a vagrant in actions who pulls Hal into his wandering and often criminal ways. Falstaff is unburdened by the societal pressures that plague Prince Hal, but ultimately, he is rejected for his failure to conform.

Fool in : Lear’s Fool has a traditional aspect of vagrancy in his arsenal: mobility. The Fool moves between social groups throughout the play, adjusting his sociability for each person and maintaining a high amount of involvement among several different layers of the classes depicted. He ultimately suffers alongside Lear during his madness in the storm but disappears from the play after that point.

Autolycus in : Autolycus is a jack-of-all-trades character who has traveled the world with a monkey, teaches clowns their tricks, and often relieves them of the gold in their pockets. This rogue shows the charms and downsides of his itinerant life.

Key Print Sources Beier, A. L., and Paul Robert Ocobock. . Ohio University Press, 2008. Dunne, Derek. . vol. 45, Jan. 2017, pp. 137–143. Humphreys, Robert. . Palgrave McMillan, 1999. Nesvet, Rebecca. . vol. 1, no. 1, 2004, pp. 1–12.

Key Online Sources . . https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/livinglearning/coll-9-health1/health-06/. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025. Best, Michael. . . . University of Victoria, 4 Jan. 2011. https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/history/crime%20and%20the%20law/beggars.html. Best, Michael. . . . University of Victoria, 4 Jan. 2011. https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/society/city%20life/begging.html. Kim, Mi-Su. . . Doctoral Dissertation, 2006. . https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/items/f3a752d9-46e3-4575-b5a4-9345d9af3e64. WSB bbm1077. Sambrook, Katie, and John Wilby. . . Exhibition at King’s College London. 16 Jun.–24 Sep. 2016. https://kingscollections.org/exhibitions/specialcollections/the-very-age-and-body-of-the-time-shakespeares-world/%E2%80%98to-try-their-fortune-there-from-the-town-to-the-city/act-of-parliament-against-vagrancy..