Poor Relief and material culture: the mobile assets of Pombal's Santa Casa da Misericórdia hospital at the second half of the 19th century

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study an institution which had, and continues to have, a very important role in society, particularly in respect to the healthcare provision. After the foundation of the first Misericórdia there was a fast diffusion of these institutions, which came to have the almost monopoly of assistance in Portugal. This text studies one of these confraternities of laity, under royal protection, facing to society, with the purpose of practicing the corporal and spiritual Works of Mercy: the Santa Casa da Misericórdia of Pombal, a brotherhood with existence documented since 1628. After brief notes about the different phases of the institution throughout history, the text studies the hospital building, salaried employees in the health sector, hospitalized patients and, above all, the movable heritage existing in that space in the second half of 19th century.