beggars

Beggars are the ones who beg or one who asks or entreats earnestly or with humility. People who do not work, but ask other people to give them money and food, are called beggars. Today, beggars are looked on with suspicion, because people feel that many of them could get jobs if they wanted to. But hundreds of years ago, in the Middle Ages, beggars were religious men who were very much respected.
In the past, many monks felt that they were honoring God by giving up all their possessions, and taking a vow of poverty. These monks wandered through the cities, begging in the name of the Church. People believed that giving alms, or charity, to these religious men was a way of obtaining future happiness. These monks were known as "begging friars." They used the money to help the sick and the poor. But many other people, who were greedy, and who saw in this custom a way to make some easy money, used begging to get rich, without doing any work.
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