The Lisbon Misericórdia: From its Foundation to its Establishment at São Roque

In 1498, during the regency of Queen Leonor, the widow of João II and the sister of Manuel I – who was absent at that time in Spain – the confraternity of the Misericórdia was founded in Lisbon.

Its creation was not an autonomous decision taken by his sister Leonor alone. The king would be aware, since, as soon as he returned, he promoted the creation of this type of confraternity all around the country. Starting, in 1499, with the encouragement for the creation of the Misericórdia of Porto

In the same year that the Lisbon Misericórdia was created, the maritime route to India was discovered. The Misericórdias would later accompany the Portuguese overseas expansion and spread to many cities of the newly-founded empire.

Manueline Lisbon became a hub and a meeting place for people from all over Portugal and the world.

It was also possible to see exotic animals there, originating, above all, from India.

The Misericórdias were therefore in perfect harmony with the religious practices of their time. The influence of a militant faith that also encouraged lay persons to imitate Christ in their works and actions can be clearly seen in the foundational text of the Misericórdias: the Compromisso.

Although it is widely known that its foundation was inspired by the Italian Misericordias, the fact that the Lisbon Misericórdia adopted all of the 14 works of mercy, and not just one of them, points to a unique combination of the religious practices in Tuscany and Flanders.

It is, above all, the Compromisso of the Lisbon Misericórdia, dating from 1502, that provides us with a more exact idea of the way that this brotherhood operated. At the head, there were: 13 brothers, a purveyor and 12 counsellors, who, were supposed to imitate the Christ's apostles.

Of the 12 counsellors, six had to be noblemen, while the other six were artisans. The purveyor or head of the confraternity was always to be a man of noble origin. These 13 brothers were elected for a period of just one year, a procedure that was maintained until the reign of King José I (1750-1777)

These unique characteristics of the Portuguese Misericórdias (including the extension of the works of mercy to 14 in number) were spread all across the world. According to Charles Boxer "the misericórdias and the municipal councils were the twin pillars of Portuguese colonial society".

Like most of the other confraternities of that time, the Lisbon Misericórdia originally had its headquarters in a chapel in a church, in this case the Terra Solta chapel. However, the growth of the confraternity and its importance in Lisbon society, led to its being established in new premises.

In this way, in 1534, it was endowed with a space that had its own church, and already the first people began to be cared for and looked after there. The church itself was essential for fulfilling the pious legacies of the benefactors (the celebration of masses in honour of the dead).

The Misericórdia church was one of the city’s most splendid religious buildings, together with the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, according to some of the most illustrious personalities of that time, such as Francisco de Holanda and Damião de Góis.

The Lisbon Misericórdia was associated with the image of Our Lady of Mercy, who protects everyone under her cloak: women and men, generally separated into the different classes of that time, the people, the clergy, the nobility and the monarchy.

On the 1st of November 1755, Lisbon is hit by a strong earthquake, the riverside area, is one of the most affected, not only by the shock but also by a tidal wave which was followed by a fire that hit a large part of the city.

After the earthquake, Portugal witnessed times of great unrest and intrigue. In 1758, the Jesuits, who played a fundamental role in Portuguese society, were expelled from the country, being accused of conspiring against King José I. Their vast built heritage became the Crown’s property.

In 1768, José I gave the Jesuit complex of São Roque to the Lisbon Misericórdia. The king took possession of the land occupied by the ruins of the former church of the Misericórdia in the Ribeira for his own use and later installed there the Conceição Velha church of the Friars of Christ.

The Misericórdia, which still retained possession of a large part of the land where its headquarters had stood in the Ribeira, receiving rental income from its use, was endowed with a space that had remained practically intact and a large-sized church, thus enabling it to fulfil its pious legacies.

The institution’s proximity to Bairro Alto, a residential quarter where there were various places of prostitution, enabled the Misericórdia to respond prontly to one of the scourges of eighteenth-century Lisbon society: the abandonment of children, who would later be placed in the foundling wheel.