Foundlings in the Portuguese world: The culture of child abandonment

Abstract

[Excerpt] This chapter approaches assistance toward foundlings from the point of view of the organization of institutions that catered for them and their evolution from the medieval period to the end of anonymous child abandonment during the second half of the nineteenth century. Charitable structures for foundlings in Portugal were implemented by crown initiative at the beginning of the sixteenth century and persisted for nearly four centuries. As such, the organization of assistance to foundlings fell outside the scope of church institutions such as bishoprics or religious orders. [...]