The Shadows of Family Life: Mistreated Girls Admitted to the Casa de Misericordia in Barcelona in the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

Many of the girls admitted to the Casa de Misericordia (House of Mercy) in Barcelona during the early modern age had suffered forms of violence, within their families and in the wider context of their deprived neighborhoods. Although poverty was the main reason for entry, there were many concomitant factors that led to girls being abandoned. My aim here is to demonstrate that among these factors, the experience of violence was important both quantitatively and qualitatively. The admission files reveal certainly the relationship between poverty, family conflicts, and violence against those most vulnerable members of society.