Os “filhos do Estado”: a Casa dos Expostos e a assistência a infância desvalida em São Luís do Maranhão (1840-1855)

Abstract

Of Portuguese origin, the Santas Casas de Misericórdia embraced a range of services to the poor and vulnerable in society. Lisbon's Misericórdia, founded in 1498 with royal support, quickly spread throughout Portugal and its colonies. In Brazil, the brotherhood was active since the colonial period, establishing itself in the city of São Luís do Maranhão around 1623. Due to the care of abandoned children, the brotherhood in Maranhão followed its Portuguese counterpart in the shelter and education of children and founded the Casa dos Expostos, receiving the first child in 1829. The abandonment of children, a practice carried out since western antiquity, the little ones exposed in streets, wastelands or beaches became a common practice, something that scandalized Christians from the medieval times on. Based on Christian notions, the "innocent little angels" were sheltered in brotherhoods and religious institutions. Thus, the present work aims to understand the contours of childhood and the emergence of the assistance of Santa Casa de Misericórdia with its actions through the Casa dos Expostos in São Luís do Maranhão during the period 1840-1855