434 david d’andrea
outlined the public policies and relied upon private charitable actions of
citizens to perform the work.
the lack of government coordination reflects a Venetian reluctance to
centralize power, yet the challenges of disease and famine would soon
necessitate the creation of government agencies to oversee institutions.
recurrences of the plague led to the creation of a permanent Board of
health, the Provveditori alla sanità, in 1489. the ad hoc hospital inquiries
of 1489 and 1526, however, were only intermediate steps to permanent
institutions. it would require devastating famines, unprecedented num-
bers of beggars, and a new evangelical zeal of the 16th century to inspire
more sweeping legislation against the poor in 1528–29 and the creation in
1565 of a permanent body, the Provveditori sopra gli ospedali e Luoghi Pii,
to oversee charitable institutions.
the weakness of a decentralized system became apparent during the
first decades of the 16th century, a pivotal period in the history of poverty
and welfare legislation in both Venice and the rest of europe. during this
period when communities throughout europe increasingly regulated beg-
gars and coordinated poor relief, Venetian nobles also articulated their
first comprehensive poor laws. famine and disease struck Venetian ter-
ritories from 1527–29, and Venetian authorities responded with sweeping
legislation designed to eliminate begging and preserve the social order.42
the decrees of 1528 and 1529 were the dramatic culmination and articula-
tion of Venetian political theory influenced by religious principles. the
poor laws and the Venetian response during these years of crisis com-
bined public enforcement of established Catholic theological principles
with the private devotion of Venetian citizens.
drought, floods, and bad harvests in 1527 forced people from the coun-
tryside into the cities, from regional centers to Venice in a desperate
search for food. after months of starvation with the city flooded with refu-
gees from the mainland, it finally became evident that voluntary almsgiv-
ing could not meet the needs of the poor; therefore the Venetian senate
took direct action. on 13 March 1528 the government issued the first of
two decrees designed to alleviate the suffering and intolerable conditions
in the city.43 temporary wooden shelters were constructed, begging out-
lawed, and paupers denied entry to the city. By the following June, the
foreign poor were to be expelled from the temporary hospitals and sent
42 for a discussion of the laws, see Pullan, Rich and Poor, pp. 239–79.
43 sanuto, I Diarii, vol. 47, cols 81–84.