During the medieval period a number of religious orders and generous private citizens had been responsible for the establishment of the xenodochi (hostels for pilgrims and travellerss). However there was a lack of a true hospital, particularly for care and assistance to the poor. The first such institution was due to the enlightened generosity of two persons from the circle of Carraresi intimates: Baldo de' Bonaffari and Sibilia de' Cetto. Their profiles, side by side on a tombstone, are seen in one of the rooms at the Justinian ospital. Sibilia, daughter of the wealthy Gualperto de' Cetto, had first married Bonacorso Naseri, who died after being imprisoned for serving the Visconti. In 1393 Sibilia won a legal case preventing Bonacorso's mother from seizing the entire estate. Sibilia subsequently married Baldo de' Bonaffari da Piombino, a counsellor and advisor to Francesco Novello, and the two took up residence in Bonaffari Palace on Piazza del Duomo. In 1413, the couple asked permission from Doge Michele Steno and Bishop Pietro Marcello for authorisation to build a hospital on their property in the Pontecorvo quarter, in front of the Church of St. Margaret. The officinae (roomss for the Observant Franciscans were situated beside the hospital, forming the nucleus of what would become a large and important monastery. In 1416 Baldo and Sibilia requested authorisation to build a new church alongside the hospital. There is a suggestion that, as was typical for the signori of the day, Baldo and Sibilia practiced usury, however with the construction of the monastery and Church of St. Francis they must have put their enormous fortune at the disposal of the city. The hospital continued operation until 1798.
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