Page 253 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo II

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The war and the hospitals - when soldiers replace civilians

MANUEL ANTóNIo PErEIrA CoUTo

In Portugal, before the XIX century, hospital assistance given to soldiers was shared
th
between royal hospitals, administrated by the order of S. João de Deus , public hospitals,
1
administrated by other religious orders and the Misericórdias.
2
the Misericórdias were brotherhoods that were devoted to the promotion of help and
assistance to the poor, orphans, widows, prisoners, pilgrims and to the ill. this was done
through the fulfilment of what was usually called the fourteen works of mercy. these were
divided in seven corporal and seven spiritual works of mercy .
3
One of the seven corporal Works of mercy was the healing of the ill and, to fulfil this,
the Misericórdias as an institution built various hospital throughout the Portuguese empire,
becoming the main Portuguese institution dedicated to the administration of hospitals. This
was the case of the hospital studied in this present work – the Divina Providência Hospital
created in 1796, in Vila Real, Trás-os-Montes, located in the northern part of Portugal.
When a French military aggression to Portugal became possible the Portuguese crown
ordered the creation of permanent military hospitals (called hospitais militares permanen-
tes ). The problem was that these hospitals were only located near or in some military
4
th
headquarters and the Portuguese crown continued to need the Misericórdias. So, on the 18
of October 1806 the crown instituted a chart by which the Misericódias were obligated to pay
medical assistance to the soldiers.
This explains why we found evidence of medical assistance given to the military in public
hospitals, like the Divina Providência Hospital.

the hospitaLization registry process
The chart of 1806 anticipated that when the medical expenses with soldiers were too high
for the Misericórdia to endure, the Portuguese crown would financially aid them. But, for
this to happen, the Misericórdias had to justify these expenses . This way, they kept a very
5
strict record of the soldier’s admission in the hospital’s registry books. So, these records reg-
istered the date of hospitalization, name, birthplace, marital state, military status, company,
diagnostics (not always), infirmary (not always) and finally, the discharge, transfer or death.
Thanks to these records we can reconstruct the profile of these patients and find out whom

1 The order of S. João de Deus was dedicated to the foundation and administration of hospitals, and, therefore,
the Portuguese crown reserve to them the administration of these royal hospitals; Araújo, 2005: 651-652.
2 Such as the Cónegos de S. João Evangelista and the S. Francisco order. Read araújo, 2005: 651.
3 These were created in the XVth century, when the first Misericórdia was instituted in lisbon. the local
Misericórdias followed and adapted the rules of this first institution to there local needs. SÁ, 1997: 28-29,
104-111.
4 In English: “Permanent Military Hospitals”; Marques, 1999: 60-61.
5 Silva, 1843: 415.