I protagonisti dei Mendicanti tra cura e carità

The Mendicanti was a flexible institution which adapted to circumstances throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This essay aims to look beyond those who were responsible for the construction and administration of San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti to examine the profile and identities of the residents of the complex, and their interactions with the city beyond it. The intended residential profile as specified in documents from the earliest years of the hospital’s activity is compared with evidence from the Mendicanti’s catastici about who was actually there at various points in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Second, the process by which people entered the institution, and the wide range of reasons for which they left it are assessed. Third, education, work, healthcare and religious practices are identified as key facets of daily life in the institution. The experiences of the residents of the Mendicanti shed light on the nature of care and charity in early modern Venice.