Local elites and welfare policy in the Crown of Aragon during the late Middle Ages: the cases of Barcelona and Tarragona

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7410/1682
Keywords: Hospital, Crown of Aragon, Welfare Policy, Local Elites, Ospedale, Corona d'Aragona, Politica ospedaliera, Elite locali

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse the deployment of a genuine welfare policy in the Crown of Aragon during the late Middle Ages through the examples of the cities of Barcelona and Tarragona. The text aims to identify the moments and reasons behind the genesis of this same welfare policy, as well as its adaptation to a changing political and economic context, marked especially by the reforms that gave rise to the brand-new general hospitals of Barcelona in 1401 and Tarragona in 1464.

L’obiettivo di questo articolo è analizzare l’implementazione di un’autentica politica ospedaliera nella Corona d’Aragona durante il tardo Medioevo attraverso gli esempi delle città di Barcellona e Tarragona. Il testo si propone di individuare i momenti e le ragioni che stanno dietro la genesi di questa stessa politica di assistenza, nonché il suo adattamento a un contesto politico ed economico in mutamento, segnato soprattutto dalle riforme che hanno dato vita ai nuovissimi ospedali generali di Barcellona nel 1401 e Tarragona nel 1464.

Author Biographies

Pol Bridgewater, University of Barcelona

Pol Bridgewater holds a PhD in Medieval History (2020) by the University of Barcelona. He currently is a post-doctoral researcher and a member of IRCVM and MAHPA, the Institute and Research Group for Medieval Studies at the same university. He has written extensively on the interaction of welfare and public policy in the Middle Ages. Among his latest contributions you might find The Medieval and Early Modern Hospital. A Physical and Symbolic Space, edited together with Dr. Antoni Conejo da Pena.

Josep Barceló-Prats, Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Josep Barceló-Prats holds PhD in Anthropology (2014) from the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona. He currently is a Serra Húnter Fellow in the Nursing Department of the URV and a member of the consolidated research group SGR380 «Infermeria Avançada». His work revolves around hospital history and healthcare professions. In relation to these lines of research, in 2014, he was awarded the XLV Prize for the History of Medicine of the Uriach Foundation; and, in 2019, he received the XXIII Prize for the History of Catalan Medicine «Oleguer Miró i Borràs».

Neus Sánchez-Pié, Historical Archive of the Hospital de Sant Pau i Santa Tecla of Tarragona

Neus Sánchez-Pié has achieved a BA in History at the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) of Tarragona and MSc in archival science by the Carlos III University of Madrid. She currently is an archivist of the Historical Archive of the Hospital de Sant Pau i Santa Tecla (Tarragona). He has written about the documentary collections of the Archdiocesan Historical Archive of Tarragona and about different episodes in the hospital history of Tarragona. Among her latest contributions you might find (2023) `Apuntes históricos sobre la hospitalización de militares en Tarragona (1713-1931)´, Cuadernos Dieciochistas, 24, pp. 143-171.

Published
2024-06-30
Issue
RiMe 14/I n.s. (June 2024)
Section
Articles / Articoli
Copyright (c) 2024 Pol Bridgewater, Josep Barceló-Prats, Neus Sánchez-Pié

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