Abstract: The attitude of the ruling class in the Republic of Genoa towards abandoned children is revealed through its charitable interaction with the Hospital of Pammatone. The Ricordi manuscript written by the Genoan patrician Andrea Spinola (1562 ?-1631) – of which we analyse the unpublished part – shows that the growing number of exposed children was becoming a burden for the Republic. Sending these children to colonise Corsica could be considered a way of introducing a hierarchy between the misery of legitimate and illegitimate paupers.
