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<br>As conducted in Italy for about seven centuries, with varying degrees of success, the infant abandonment system was prompted by "great concern for the lives of women who found themselves in the desperate position of being pregnant and unmarried, with no one to care for their child." (Kertzer, p. 37.)  
<br>As conducted in Italy for about seven centuries, with varying degrees of success, the infant abandonment system was prompted by "great concern for the lives of women who found themselves in the desperate position of being pregnant and unmarried, with no one to care for their child." (Kertzer, p. 37.)  


== <br>Name-Assignment Practices  ==
== Name-Assignment Practices  ==


The Italian infant-abandonment system generally but not always included the assignment of a surname to the infant upon arrival at the ''ospizio''. Thus while in the ''ospizio ''and later when placed with a family in the countryside, the child bore a surname different from its unknown family of origin and different from the family with which it was placed. (Kertzer, pp. 119-22.) "Until the nineteenth century, foundlings in many areas were baptized with first names only and were not given a last name." (Kertzer, p. 119.)  
The Italian infant-abandonment system generally but not always included the assignment of a surname to the infant upon arrival at the ''ospizio''. Thus while in the ''ospizio ''and later when placed with a family in the countryside, the child bore a surname different from its unknown family of origin and different from the family with which it was placed. (Kertzer, pp. 119-22.) "Until the nineteenth century, foundlings in many areas were baptized with first names only and were not given a last name." (Kertzer, p. 119.)  
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<br>Thus, for example, if an abandoned child named Giuseppe were to have come from the ''ospizio ''to a local wet nurse to be taken in by a local family, the child might be raised with the "Casagrande" surname and, upon marriage to a woman maiden surnamed "Risso," might thereafter in the records of births of their children be referred to as "Giuseppe Risso Casagrande" or "Giuseppe Risso della Casa Grande" or "Giuseppe Risso di Casa," or the like. Sometimes the surnames assigned in the ''ospizi ''were used by the child throughout its life, with no new assignment in the residence location of the adopting family.  
<br>Thus, for example, if an abandoned child named Giuseppe were to have come from the ''ospizio ''to a local wet nurse to be taken in by a local family, the child might be raised with the "Casagrande" surname and, upon marriage to a woman maiden surnamed "Risso," might thereafter in the records of births of their children be referred to as "Giuseppe Risso Casagrande" or "Giuseppe Risso della Casa Grande" or "Giuseppe Risso di Casa," or the like. Sometimes the surnames assigned in the ''ospizi ''were used by the child throughout its life, with no new assignment in the residence location of the adopting family.  
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[[Image:Certificate of Abandonment of Merico Scherzi.jpg|left|Certificate recording the abandonment of male child born of "genitori ignoti"]]<br>  
[[Image:Certificate of Abandonment of Merico Scherzi.jpg|left|Certificate recording the abandonment of male child born of "genitori ignoti"]]<br>  


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[[Image:Record of Birth of Merico Scherzi.jpg|left|Record of Birth of Merico Scherzi born on 23 Apr 1902 in Orero, District of Chiavari, Province of Genoa]]<br>  
[[Image:Record of Birth of Merico Scherzi.jpg|left|Record of Birth of Merico Scherzi born on 23 Apr 1902 in Orero, District of Chiavari, Province of Genoa]]<br>  
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On occasion, a person who was abandoned as a child might learn who one or both of his or her birth parents were, for example, when registering for the military or when marrying. Sometimes the records of the ''ospizio ''were coordinated with the birth or baptism record. The above two images show the birth and abandonment records of a baby boy named by the midwife and the priest as "Merico Scherzi"; the certificate of abandonment is interleaved in the volume of records of births facing the page on which the birth is recorded. In this case, in 1902, at a time when the system was virtually ended, the surname was given to the child at the time of baptism, without the mother or father being identified,&nbsp;with the birth occurring on 23 Apr 1902, the baptism occurring on&nbsp;24 Apr 1902, and the abandonment occurring on 25 Apr 1902, in Chiavari, 12.6 km (13.4 miles) away from Orero.  
On occasion, a person who was abandoned as a child might learn who one or both of his or her birth parents were, for example, when registering for the military or when marrying. Sometimes the records of the ''ospizio ''were coordinated with the birth or baptism record. The above two images show the birth and abandonment records of a baby boy named by the midwife and the priest as "Merico Scherzi"; the certificate of abandonment is interleaved in the volume of records of births facing the page on which the birth is recorded. In this case, in 1902, at a time when the system was virtually ended, the surname was given to the child at the time of baptism, without the mother or father being identified,&nbsp;with the birth occurring on 23 Apr 1902, the baptism occurring on&nbsp;24 Apr 1902, and the abandonment occurring on 25 Apr 1902, in Chiavari, 12.6 km (13.4 miles) away from Orero.<br>
 
=== References:  ===
 
*David I. Kertzer and Michael J. White, "Cheating the Angel-Makers: Surviving Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy." Continuity and Change, 9(03): 451-480. (Cambridge University Press (CUP), 10.1017/S0268416000002423).
*David I. Kertzer, Sacrificed for Honor: Italian Infant Abandonment and the Politics of Reproductive Control (Boston: Beacon Press, 1993).
*David I. Kertzer and Marzio Barbagli. eds., Family Life in Early Modern Times, 1500-1789: The History of the European Family, Volume 1 (New Haven, London: Yale University Press, 2001).
*Guttmacher Institute, "State Policies in Brief—Infant Abandonment" (as of September 1, 2012).
*Joanne Mueller and Lorraine Sherr, "Abandoned babies and absent policies." Health Policy (2009), doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2009.06.002.


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External Links:


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*http://www.unisob.na.it/inchiostro/index.htm?idrt=4500 (Italiano) (interior of a wheel)


References:  
*http://tinyurl.com/8u4velp (rough English translation of above by Google)


*David I. Kertzer and Michael J. White, "Cheating the Angel-Makers: Surviving Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy." Continuity and Change, 9(03): 451-480. (Cambridge University Press (CUP), 10.1017/S0268416000002423).
*http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Borgo_-_santo_Spirito_in_Sassia_-_la_ruota_1639.JPG (exterior of a wheel)
**David I. Kertzer, Sacrificed for Honor: Italian Infant Abandonment and the Politics of Reproductive Control (Boston: Beacon Press, 1993).
**David I. Kertzer and Marzio Barbagli. eds., Family Life in Early Modern Times, 1500-1789: The History of the European Family, Volume 1 (New Haven, London: Yale University Press, 2001).  
**Guttmacher Institute, "State Policies in Brief—Infant Abandonment" (as of September 1, 2012).
**Joanne Mueller and Lorraine Sherr, "Abandoned babies and absent policies." Health Policy (2009), doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2009.06.002.


{{Place|Italy}}  
{{Place|Italy}}  
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