THE CHARITY HOSPITAL AND THE CONTEXT OF EPIDEMICS IN SÃO LUÍS IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Abstract

Since the beginning of their existence in Portugal, in the 15th century, one of the great characteristics developed by the Misericórdias was the administration of hospitals in the places where these institutions were built. In São Luís, the Brotherhood sought to centralise its actions in the field of medical care from an early stage. In 1805, with its own church and cemetery, we can already find reports of the existence of a charity hospital ran by the Misericórdia. In the Misericórdia’s economy, hospitals were almost always a major burden on the institution's accounts. Complaints about the difficulty of maintaining hospitals were recurrent and became more acute at times of epidemics. Perhaps in this work lies the main point of disagreement between the congregated brothers and the local administrations. The brothers almost always believed that they needed more resources to care for the sick, especially during epidemic crises, while the local administrators claimed that the existing resources were sufficient to continue running the hospitals.