The Status of the Patient and the 1504 Regimento

Abstract

In the early 16th century, when All Saints Royal Hospital was established, the royal power s political capacity was greatly diminished. The Crown exercised jurisdiction over a quarter of the Kingdom s territory, sharing authority with high ranking nobles, the military orders, ecclesiastical donees, lay people, and the communities. The total number of annual appointments of literate ministers did not exceed ten; the monarch was advised by two secretaries of the Chamber; the affairs of justice and grace involved half a dozen appellate judges and a dozen judges in the House of Justice; the treasury was in the hands of five superintendents; and security depended on enlistment for the militias and the bodies of orderlies. The six existing counties and the precariousness of the road networks illustrate the fragility of political communication and territorial organization. Regarding assistance, the post of Físico- -mor [chief physician] did not yet exist (1521), nor that of Provedor-mor da Saúde [chief health purveyor] (1526), although the Lisbon Misericórdia [house of mercy] (1498) was already operating.