Abstract

In the course of the late Middle Ages, vagrant people (and in particular those who were poor and needy) increasingly came to be regarded as a burden by the resident communities of the area of modern Switzerland, a phenomenon with parallels elsewhere in Europe. This is especially apparent in the harsher penal actions applied to them; most cases for communal high justice concerned foreign delinquents. Alongside the gradual development of Switzerland from complex confederate network to structured state, the Tagsatzung, the diet and therefore central institution of towns and cantons, played an important role in the development of defence mechanisms against the vagrant poor. Even though the Tagsatzung as an institution was relatively weak, it was the place where political decision makers met and exchanged ideas, not least about poverty and welfare. Joint federal decisions relating to the defence against the vagrant poor can be found from 1470 onwards. This is also where the principle of welfare according to place of provenience was first propagated. However, constant reissues of the defence mechanisms against the foreign poor suggest that the decisions of the diet were not very effective.