Figure 1.--This photo of orphans was taken during 1927 in Aveiro, a town in central Portugal. The orphans were at the local district orphanage. It was founded in the late-19th century by nuns. When the nun's order was expelled from Portugal, the state took over responsibility. The boys all wear smock-looking garments that are being worn like blouses.

We do not know much about Portuguese orphanages at this time. We believe that the Catholic Church opened the country's first orphnages, but we are not sure just when--probbly the late middle ages. The Church established charitable institutions long before the state began to fulfill such functions. We know that orphans were used in building the Portugese Empire. [De Faria] Populating colonies was a problem because people were often afraid of leaving tgheir home communities. Orphans could be sent with little community resistance. Sources in the 17th century discuss this. This probably was a factor earlier. It is not clear if the children were obtained from functioning orphanages. There were also state orphanages. We do not know when they were founded, perhaps in the 19th century. We do know that state orphanages were active in the 20th century. Anti-clerical campaigns have affected a number of church charities, some of which have been taken over by the state. After the end of Portuguese Civil War (1834), the Government sipressed the male Catholic orders and confiscated their property. The female orders were restricted, but allowed to remain. New postulants were prohibited and the orders allowed to die out. Any new orders were prohibited. [Catholic Encyclopedia] The Government secularized the schools and hospitals. Nuns and the friars had to leave these instititions which were taken over by the state. The same was true of orphanages. Many orders left Portugal. This did not change until Hintze Ribeiro issued a decree permitting religious orders to organize under certain conditions (1896). New prohibitions were enacted after the revolution of 1910. They were then abrogated after the coupe d'état of 1926. We notice a network of institutions for children called Casa Pia. Dawn Refuge is an orphanage run by the Campus Crusade for Christ. They help children from abusive or neglected backgrounds.

Sources

Catholic Encyclopedia.

De Faria, Manoel Severim. Noticias de Portugal (1655). De Faria worked for the Bishop of Evora. He writes about the role orphaned children could play in building the Portuguese empire.

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main Portuguese page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Cloth and textiles] [Garments] [Countries] [Topics]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 3:23 AM 9/10/2010
Last update: 4:11 AM 9/10/2010