The Political and Social Dynamics of Poverty, Poor Relief and Health Care in Early-Modern Portugal

By the end of the fifteenth century most European countries had witnessed a profound reformation of their poor relief and health care policies. As this book demonstrates, Portugal was among them and actively participated in such reforms. Providing the first English language monograph on this topic, Laurinda Abreu examines the Portuguese experience and places it within the broader European context. She shows that, in line with much that was happening throughout the rest of Europe, Portugal had not only set up a systematic reform of the hospitals but had also developed new formal arrangements for charitable and welfare provision that responded to the changing socioeconomic framework, the nature of poverty and the concerns of political powers. The defining element of the Portuguese experience was the dominant role played by a new lay confraternity, the confraternity of the Misericórdia, created under the auspices of King D. Manuel I in 1498. By the time of the king's death in 1521 there were more than 70 Misericórdias in Portugal and its empire, and by 1640, more than 300. All of them were run according to a unified set of rules and principles with identical social objectives. Based upon a wealth of primary source documentation, this book reveals how the sixteenth-century Portuguese crown succeeded in implementing a national poor relief and health care structure, with the support of the Papacy and local elites, and funded principally through pious donations. This process strengthened the authority of the royal government at a time which coincided with the emergence of the early modern state. In so doing, the book establishes poor relief and public health alongside military, diplomatic and administrative authorities, as the pillars of centralisation of royal power.

Conquerors, Brides and Concubines. Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia.

As its title indicates, this book, which is divided into four chapters, seeks to provide an overview of “the diverse political, social and cultural functions that interfaith marriage alliances and other sexual encounters fulfilled within the overall dynamic of Christian- Muslim relations in the Iberian Peninsula during the medieval period, both within al- Andalus (…) and the expansionist Christian-dominated polities of the North” (4). In this sense, its chronological span reaches from the early eighth century (the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Muslims) to 1492 (the Christian conquest of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada)

Subjective Aspects of People with Chronic Ulcers: a Qualitative Study in Brazil and Portugal

Introduction: The experience built in the process of living with chronic ulcer is marked by changes such as the inability to work, to relate socially and causes the need to adapt to a routine care. Understanding this network of meanings is important to develop techniques of individual or collective care. Objective: To understand impregnated subjectivities in the everyday experiences of Brazilian and Portuguese patients with chronic ulcers, in the light of the Oral History of life. Method: Comparative study with a qualitative approach, using Oral History as method and technique. The network of collaborators, formed by males and females, aged 39-82 years, was structured into two groups, one consisting of 06 people in Natal/RN, Brazil and another composed of 10 people in Évora/Portugal. In both groups, the narratives were collected through open questions, which were recorded, transcribed and analyzed by the technique of thematic content analysis. Results: Through the analysis, three themes were revealed: Social repercussion in Brazil and in Portugal; Trajectory of theinjured person; and Coping mechanisms. Conclusion: Changes were observed in social life, leading contributors to isolation, in addition to confronting the stigma experienced. There were also identified points as the reinterpretation of chronic wound carrier about their disease and coping strategies of their chroniccondition.

The moderating effect of gender on the relationship between coping and suicide risk in a Portuguese community sample of adults

Background and aims(s): The study evaluated the contribution of coping strategies, based on the Toulousiane conceptualization of coping, to the prediction of suicide risk and tested the moderating effect of gender, controlling for depressive symptoms. Method: A two-time data collection design was used. A community sample of 195 adults (91 men and 104 women) ranging in age from 19 to 65 years and living in several Portuguese regions, mostly in Alentejo, participated in this research. Results: Gender, depressive symptoms, control, and withdrawal and conversion significantly predicted suicide risk and gender interacted with control, withdrawal and conversion, and social distraction in the prediction of suicide risk. Coping predicted suicide risk only for women. Conclusions: Results have important implications for assessment and intervention with suicide at-risk individuals. In particular,the evaluation and development of coping skills is indicated as a goal for therapists having suicide at-risk women as clients.