A Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Fortaleza: acolhimento de enfermos e educação para a saúde pública (1861-1889)

Abstract

The Institution of the Holy House of Mercy was born in Portugal in the fifteenth century, initially founded by lay people and a Trinitarian friar, aimed at providing material and spiritual help to those in need. Later during the Portuguese colonization in Brazil, the model of the Santa Casa brotherhood was adopted as an instrument of diffusion of the power of Portugal in relation to Brazil. These institutions were governed by the Catholic church that received funds for the maintenance of hospitals and the Misericórdias. Therefore, with this thesis we propose to discuss the ideology and educational model of the institution of Santa Casa de Misericórdia in Brazil, especially highlighting Misericórdia de Fortaleza. After all, while this model of educational welfare institution was implanted in Brazil during the colonial period, Misericórdia de Fortaleza was founded during the imperial period (1861), and followed educational paths of assistance different from the models implanted during the colonial period. Taking into account that in the second half of the nineteenth century, Ceará was hit by droughts and epidemics that increased social deprivation, it becomes necessary to understand the educational action promoted by this institution on the body and soul of the inhabitants in the city of Fortaleza-CE. Finally, in this thesis we propose to analyze the process of forming a hospital medical care mentality, in the city of Fortaleza, in the passage from the nineteenth century to the twentieth century, seeking to understand how the Holy House of Mercy in Fortaleza combined the charity present in the constitution of this Institution with the medical knowledge in force during the study period. We call attention to the process of medicalization, which was established in Santa Casa de Misericórdia, thus creating a relationship between charity and medical practice. To that end, we analyze the specificities of hospital care in Ceará, as well as the indications of medical care with the underprivileged, focusing on the city of Fortaleza, in the final period of the Empire and the first years of the Republic. Finally, the article highlights the role of charity in the training course of hospital care in Ceará.