Catalani e valenzani a Sciacca nel tardo medioevo: religiosità e fondazioni assistenziali

Abstract

Three of the six medieval hospitals in Sciacca were founded by merchants and nobles, members of Catalan and Valencian families who had settled in Sicily. This information allows us to reveal the role played by the Iberian families in Sciacca. Through the study of wills, in which in addition to pro anima bequests, churches, monasteries and welfare structures were founded, this study reconstructs the expressions of religious and devotional sensitivity of these families, focusing, in particular, on the institution of three hospitals and on the different forms of charity practised.