In the modern age, the children conceived could often not be supported due to the precarious economic conditions of the families, as well as when the marriages lacked a formal and canonical character. In an attempt to prolong their lives, they were usually left at the doors of convents and orphanages. At this juncture, these types of religious centres carried out a social and welfare work that would not be replaced until the creation of state social systems in the 19th century. Parents who did not want to lose contact with their children often left them with a distinctive sign so that they would be able to recognise them in the future. Similarly, when the convent had to take care of the newborn, it needed to hire midwives, some of whom were often the child’s mother. However, the handing over of the child to such religious institutions was by far a guarantee of the child’s survival. As María José Pérez Álvarez states, infant infections caused enormous mortality at this early stage and if they survived, when they were handed over to families to be raised, mortality also lurked because of the deplorable hygienic conditions in which the population lived. Only a minority managed to survive and very few eventually managed to leave such institutions for a stable life.
Collection: Graphics
Project: 3. Rural world and urban world in the formation of the European identity., 4. Family, daily life and social inequality in Europe.
Chronology: XVIII
Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University
Link: https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/28463/1/RHM_26.pdf
Resource type: Graph
Format: Bar chart
Source: Libros de Registro de Entradas del Arca de Misericordia
Language: Spanish
Date: 2008
Owner: Djebril Bouzidi (Modernalia)
Identifier: Libros de Registro de Entradas del Arca de Misericordia
Copyright: © MARÍA JOSÉ PÉREZ ÁLVAREZ y © Revista de Historia Moderna
Abstract: Trajectory of the children who joined the Pious Work between 1700 and 1791
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