ABSTRACT
The care of foundlings in the Republic of Dubrovnik, in its institutionalised form, dates back to the fifteenth century. It was organised and consistently enforced by the State. The Hospitale Misericordiae served as a foundling home, orphanage, hospital and nursing agency. The paper aims to show the organisation of institutional care for abandoned children in early modern Dubrovnik. The basic sources examined are the accounting records of the Hospitale Misericordiae, kept at the State Archives in Dubrovnik.
