The first of its kind (though many other local Misericórdias were established, throughout Portugal and its overseas colonies), it was established in 1498 by Queen Regent Eleanor of Viseu, as a Brotherhood with the Invocation of Our Lady of Mercy (headquartered in a chapel of the Lisbon Cathedral) comprising "one hundred men of good reputation and sound conscience and honest life" that vowed to support the neediest and to uphold the Fourteen Works of Mercy.[1]
Although a private legal person, the Misericórdia is overseen by the public administration, namely the Minister in charge of the social security system; its Chairman (Provedor), who presides over the Board of Directors, is nominated by the Prime Minister.[2]
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