Poor women and urban assistance in Early Modern Portugal: the case of Hospital of Santiago of Braga

Abstract

Any study of Hospital of Santiago has remained untackled to date. This institution housed women in a situation of great economic and social vulnerability, mainly elderly, single or widows with few or no surviving family relations. This text aims to discuss the women’s poverty by comparing their stances towards death. The study is based on the analysis of parish records and accounting sources considered via a qualitative methodology. The results problematize the phenomena of the impoverishment of women in an urban context and debate the relevance of work, networks and formal assistance in the survival of the poor during the Early Modern Age.