Conversation so far:
What was the Choir of King's College, Cambridge early history?
The original statutes specified that the choir should consist of ten chaplains, six clerks (lay singers) and sixteen choristers who were to be poor and needy boys, of sound condition and honest conversation ... knowing competently how to read and sing.

Question: Why did they have to be poor and needy boys?
Self-contained rewrite: Why did the original statues that specified that the choir should consist of ten chaplains, six clerks and sixteen choristers have to be poor and needy boys?