Abandoned Children of the Italian Renaissance

During the Italian Renaissance (14th–16th centuries), widespread poverty, social upheaval, and cultural shifts led to significant rates of child abandonment, particularly in urban centers like Florence, Venice, and Milan. This paper examines the historical context, institutional responses, and societal implications of child abandonment during this period. Abandoned children, often left at foundling hospitals such as Florence’s Ospedale degli Innocenti, faced uncertain futures shaped by economic hardship, illegitimacy, or familial instability. These institutions, supported by civic and religious authorities, provided care but also reflected the era’s complex attitudes toward charity, morality, and social order. Through archival records, including hospital registries and contemporary accounts, this study explores the demographics of abandoned children, the mechanisms of their care, and their integration into society through adoption, fostering, or servitude. It also analyzes the cultural representation of these children in art and literature, highlighting how they embodied both vulnerability and resilience. By situating child abandonment within the broader socio-economic and religious landscape of the Renaissance, this paper illuminates the interplay between compassion and pragmatism in addressing one of the period’s pressing social challenges.