ABSTRACT
Two of the most marked features of Portuguese charity, healthcare and poor relief policies from the late fifteenth century onwards were their continuity – in that they progressed smoothly without reversals or major upsets – and the relative harmony seen among the actors involved in them. This is an extremely significant point, not only for Portugal but also in comparison with other parts of Europe, where the same issues inflamed relations between society and government and between government and the church and papacy. Even the dynastic change in Portugal in 1580 caused no ripples, which is all the more remarkable given the differences between Castile and Portugal in areas such as hospital reform, for example. With the Habsburgs, as with the House of Avis before them, the crown’s action was based on the assumption that royal power was pre-eminent over the other agents operating in these areas.
