| Abstract [eng] |
In the early modern period, the social stability of particular individuals depended primarily not on official institutions, but on networks of mutual help, formed of family, relatives or friends. However, the growth of the cities and changing social conditions left some without the traditional safety-net in the event of old age, disability or illness, thus they depended on the assistance provided by hospitals ‒ institutions of poor relief and health care founded by various confessional communities. This dissertation aims to give a comprehensive account on this phenomenon in Vilnius in the 16th to 18th centuries: what socioeconomic, cultural and religious processes stimulated the formation of the network of hospitals, how were these institutions managed, what individuals depended on the assistance provided by hospitals, what role the charitable institutions played in the economic and religious life of Vilnius, and what impact the policies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire had on hospitals in the second half of the 18th century. The research pays particular attention to the previously underresearched clientele of hospitals. It provides the opportunity to gain an understanding of the past perceptions of poverty, old age, disability and illness, and what significance the family or community had to an individual’s social stability. Moreover, a comprehensive account on the history of hospitals contributes to the research on the history of medicine. |
