Poverty and disease in southern Galicia at the end of the modern age: the Hospital of San Roque in the city of Ourense

Abstract

This article deals with the study of the hospital of San Roque in the city of Ourense, founded by bishop Francisco Blanco in the 16th century and in charge of attend, mainly poor and troop military. The aim is to rebuild the internal life of the hospital from internal and management books preserved in the AHPOu. Through the use of methods primarily, but not exclusively, quantitative, explores different aspects such as the government and administration of the centre, the evolution of hospital attendance, the geographical origin of patients, sex and marital status, the duration of the stay or mortality of the admitted. The results of these elements is intended to contribute to the study of an institution that has any contribution to the field of nursing, but with more modest contributions from the historical point of view.