Charity and Power in Early Modern Italy: Benefactors and their Motives in Turin, 1541–1789 (Cambridge Studies in the History of Medicine)

Through its examination of a city marginal to the Italian tradition of communes and city-states during the post-Renaissance period, the book offers an extended reassessment of what has been regarded as the typical Italian model of welfare. Acts of charity have often been interpreted either within a functionalist framework or merely as responses to the needs of the poor by reference to the elusive field of changing mentalités. This book seeks instead to illuminate the reasons for individuals' involvement in charity. Analysis of the relationships of power, and conflict within the actors' personal and political milieux, reveals that tensions within the social elites were a crucial factor in motivating charitable giving and even in shaping perceptions of the deserving poor. Special attention is paid to the symbolic and direct aims of charity, rather than to its explicit interventions. This focus on subjectivity also throws new light on the link between gender and charitable activity. 1. Sixteenth-century Municipal Plans For Poor Relief. The 1541 Plan In Turin. Civic Ideology And Provision For The Poor. New Methods And Conceptions Of Poor Relief? A Secularisation Of Charity? Turin's 'civic Religion' In The Late Middle Ages -- 2. Civic Charity In The Age Of State Formation. The Growth Of Municipal Poor Relief. Responses To The Plague. Anti-famine Policy. Charitable Resources For The Poor And Sick In 'normal Times'. Poor Relief And City Politics. The Rise Of Ducal Charity -- 3. Motivations For Charity. From Civic To Voluntary Charity. Charity And The Defence Of Status. Corporate Control Over Charity. The Internment Of The Poor. Charity And Prestige. Charity And Patronage. The Management Of Charity -- 4. Charity And Gender. Women And Convents. Asylums For Penitents. Women And Property. Charity As An Expression Of Conflict Within The Family -- 5. Hospitals And Poor Relief In The Age Of Absolutism. Attacking The Independence Of Charitable Institutions. Sandra Cavallo. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 258-270) And Index. This is the first thorough study of charity and of medical and poor relief in post-Renaissance Italy. It departs from current interpretations by putting much greater emphasis on the various circumstances that motivated individual men and women to become involved in charity, and argues that conflicts and tensions in their social and political surroundings were crucial in prompting their charitable activity and defining perceptions of the needy. Departing from current interpretations of what motivated individuals to become involved in charity, this study of post-Renaissance Italy argues that conflicts and tensions in social and political surroundings were crucial in prompting charitable acts.