Bocche Inutili: Abandoned Children, Warfare, and Civic Religion in Siena
This article examines the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, Italy during a siege in 1554-1555 to explore two related threads within the historiography of charity: the treatment and perception of abandoned children, and the intersection of hospitals and civic religion in a time of crisis....
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2023
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| In: |
The catholic historical review
Year: 2023, Volume: 109, Issue: 3, Pages: 463-485 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Santa Maria della Scala
/ Foundling
/ Charitable works
/ Folk religion
/ Marian devotion (motif)
/ History 1554-1555
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| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KBJ Italy NBJ Mariology NCC Social ethics |
| Further subjects: | B
Siena
B civic religion B foundlings B Children B Charity |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article examines the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, Italy during a siege in 1554-1555 to explore two related threads within the historiography of charity: the treatment and perception of abandoned children, and the intersection of hospitals and civic religion in a time of crisis. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, people viewed the hospital and its children as a reflection of Siena’s piety and devotion to its patron saint. During the siege, the designation of the hospital’s children as bocche inutili and the resulting perceptions of the city’s failure in its performance of charity towards abandoned children enabled the hospital’s rector to use rhetoric around foundlings and charity to protest policy and negotiate resolutions. This incident allows us to see how, during times of crisis, abandoned children, through their physical presence in processions and as objects of rhetoric, could hold an important place in civic religious devotions and discourse. |
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| ISSN: | 1534-0708 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The catholic historical review
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