THE EARLY YEARS OF THE MISERICORDIA OF MANILA (1594-1625)馬尼拉的早期慈善機構 (1594 - 1625)
The article investigates the origins and early years of the Misericórdia of Manila (1594–1625), arguing that the institution emerged as an institutional solution for the management of care for the poor and the sick in a colonial context marked by fragmented welfare networks. The research reconstruct...
Saved in:
| Published in: | Review of Culture |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
Instituto Cultural de Macau
April 2005
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40014/3805 |
| Summary: | The article investigates the origins and early years of the Misericórdia of Manila (1594–1625), arguing that the institution emerged as an institutional solution for the management of care for the poor and the sick in a colonial context marked by fragmented welfare networks. The research reconstructs the process of formation based on local precedents of charity, especially the role of clerical initiatives and lay figures connected to the practice of the “acts of mercy,” before the consolidation of a brotherhood along the lines of the Iberian tradition. The work then articulates the Portuguese inspiration of the Houses of the Misericórdia—as a confraternal model with statutes, Marian patronage, and a logic of articulation between local elites and organized charity—to explain the plausibility of its adaptation in Manila.
Methodologically, the analysis is historical-institutional and comparative: it describes the passage from informal and hospital relief to a stable form of organization, examining continuities and transformations in the modes of fundraising, administration, and distribution of resources. It concludes that, in its early years, the Misericórdia of Manila was consolidated through cooperation between religious authorities, civil benefactors, and preexisting hospital structures, favoring a transition from episodic care to a more regular administration of assistance to needy Spaniards and, progressively, to vulnerable populations in the urban space of Manila. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |