ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to survey the development of poor relief in Catalonia, with particular emphasis on the city of Barcelona. It reviews the traditional system of poor relief in early modern Barcelona, when the main institutions for the provision of help to the poor were established in the city by the civic and religious local authorities. The traditional system of poor relief in early modern Barcelona rested on the late medieval foundations that had been created as a response to both the growth of the city and the consolidation of local government in the late 13th and 14th centuries. The traditional system of poor relief consolidated in early modern Barcelona remained in practice until the 19th century despite the precarious financial and administrative character of these welfare institutions. Welfare was understood by the Spanish liberal state as a question that required firm legislation in order to guarantee the social and political order.
