Charity and Philanthropy in the History of Brazilian Hospitals —The experience of São Paulo Holy House of Mercy and São Paulo Hospital: an outline of historical continuity
Ana Nemi
Abstract
Health care in the Portuguese Empire: a prologue Portuguese houses of mercy were lay brotherhoods where health care provision was guided by Christian values, and priorities were set by the Crown in relation to the interest of a local elite. 2The first of them was founded in Lisbon in 1498, and they subsequently spread across the Portuguese Empire.The new houses of mercy were expected to operate in the model of the Lisbon Misericórdia, and had to deal with local particularities and the resulting connection with the elite. 3In spite of these specificities, though, houses of mercy enjoyed privileges of royal protection.Amid the religious wars of the sixteenth century, their statutes were negotiated within the scope of the Council of Trent (1545-1563), which reinforced their Christian/Catholic identities and their autonomy from bishoprics. 4Furthermore, this autonomy and the royal sanction for the practice