Filantropia o controllo sociale? Le opere assistenziali di un feudatario del Settecento

This article examines the reasons which moved local landlords to provide charity to their subjects, and focuses on the case of Borgo Fornari, an imperial fief in the Scrivia Valley, not far from Genoa, where in 1736 the marquis Carlo Spinola decided to build a hospital for the sick. Thanks to several unpublished sources preserved in the Spinola’s family archive, it has been possible to examine the most important aspects concerning organisation and functioning of the hospital and to demonstrate that it was managed paying attention to combine the efficacy of treatments with cost-effectiveness criteria.