Instructions to the Masters of Cluj Hospitals in the Early Modern Period
Instructions to the Masters of Cluj Hospitals in the Early Modern Period

Summary/Abstract: This text explores the historical and administrative evolution of Cluj during the pre-modern and early modern periods, particularly focusing on the formulation of statutes and instructions for the town’s hospitals. The analysis delves into the operation and regulations of Cluj’s social institutions, particularly St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, which served as the city’s primary welfare institution from the fourteenth century onward. Funded by revenues from mills, vineyards, and donations, the hospital played a key role in caring for the poor, elderly, and orphans. Detailed instructions for hospital masters first appeared in 1586, reflecting the growing complexity of urban administration and the need to regulate public welfare. The analysis of the instructions issued in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries reveal the shifts in the administration of the welfare institution in parallel with changes in the urban governance of Cluj.

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