Lambert le Bègue, (d c1187) a Flemish priest, was deeply perturbed by the pitiful sight of the many destitute wives and children of crusaders who had been killed. He made it his special mission to assist such homeless widows and orphans. To house them, he established refuges all over the area. It did not take long for them to be called after the priest who had done so much for them, to be referred to as a Bèghard. That is how the word “beggar” came into the world.
From the mid-1700s until the 1970s, countries and individual cities had unsightly beggar ordinances known colloquially as ugly laws. These laws deemed it illegal for "any person, who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or deformed in any way, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object, to expose himself to public view.
The first American ordinance pertaining to preventing people with disabilities from appearing in public was one passed in 1867 in San Francisco, California. It is noted that people who were perhaps in need of money traveled to California to “strike it rich” during the California Gold Rush. When they did not find themselves wealthy, they remained in California. Letters and documents from the period just after the California Gold Rush note the large number of “insane” people wandering the streets.
The Leatherman (ca. 1839–1889) was a particular vagabond, who traveled a 365-mile (587 kms) circuit between the Connecticut River and the Hudson River, roughly from 1857 to 1889. He wore a handmade leather coat, scarf and hat and although he frequently stopped in towns along his route, he never told anyone his name. His identity remains unknown.
A beggar was caught outside a mosque in Kuwait telling worshipers that he badly needed cash and that he had no home. Since it is illegal, he was arrested and police discovered he had over 500,000 Kuwaiti Dinars in his bank account ($1,650,000)
The luck changed for beggar Billy Ray Harris one day in February 2013 when the usual tinkling of coins being dropped into his beggar’s cup on a plaza in Kansas City was punctuated by a slightly heavier clunk. A few minutes later he looked inside and spied a $4,000 woman’s engagement ring. He never sold it. Two days later the woman came back for her ring and Harris gave it to her. In thanks, she set up a fund that raised over $185,000 for him.
From the mid-1700s until the 1970s, countries and individual cities had unsightly beggar ordinances known colloquially as ugly laws. These laws deemed it illegal for "any person, who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or deformed in any way, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object, to expose himself to public view.
The first American ordinance pertaining to preventing people with disabilities from appearing in public was one passed in 1867 in San Francisco, California. It is noted that people who were perhaps in need of money traveled to California to “strike it rich” during the California Gold Rush. When they did not find themselves wealthy, they remained in California. Letters and documents from the period just after the California Gold Rush note the large number of “insane” people wandering the streets.
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| Louis Dewis, "The Old Beggar", Bordeaux, France, 1916 |
The Leatherman (ca. 1839–1889) was a particular vagabond, who traveled a 365-mile (587 kms) circuit between the Connecticut River and the Hudson River, roughly from 1857 to 1889. He wore a handmade leather coat, scarf and hat and although he frequently stopped in towns along his route, he never told anyone his name. His identity remains unknown.
A beggar was caught outside a mosque in Kuwait telling worshipers that he badly needed cash and that he had no home. Since it is illegal, he was arrested and police discovered he had over 500,000 Kuwaiti Dinars in his bank account ($1,650,000)
The luck changed for beggar Billy Ray Harris one day in February 2013 when the usual tinkling of coins being dropped into his beggar’s cup on a plaza in Kansas City was punctuated by a slightly heavier clunk. A few minutes later he looked inside and spied a $4,000 woman’s engagement ring. He never sold it. Two days later the woman came back for her ring and Harris gave it to her. In thanks, she set up a fund that raised over $185,000 for him.
Bulgarian ascetic Dobri Dobrev, also known as Grandpa Dobri, spent his life begging for money and donated all the cash he collected to charities, orphanages, churches and monasteries. He walked over 20 kilometers (12 mi) each day to sit or stand in front of the Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky in Sofia. Dobrev died on February 13, 2018, at Kremikovtsi Monastery, at the age of 103.
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| Dobri Dobrev in 2006 |
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