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Arguably they were expected to provide security against external threats, but otherwise no: any social services were the responsibility of the parish in the ear
by pmyteh 6y ago
Arguably they were expected to provide security against external threats, but otherwise no: any social services were the responsibility of the parish in the early history of England. National poor relief laws date to the late 16th Century, but the responsibility falls locally, not from the King. This doesn't really begin to change until the early 20th Century, with the national provision of old-age pensions. Most of the sense of the national government as directly providing for the people comes post-World War 2, not before.