Amparo is a Portuguese and Spanish word that means refuge or shelter (and in a broader sense, protection). Several places in the Iberian Peninsula and in Latin America are named Amparo, some associated with Our Lady of the Refuge (Portiiirdr dr.: Nossa Senhora do Amparo, Esp: Nuestra Señora del Amparo). Sometimes spelled Ámparo (in Spanish).

Origin

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On 24 February 1409, the Venerable Joan Gilabert Jofré of the Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy was en route to Valencia's Cathedral to deliver a Lenten sermon when he witnessed a mentally ill man being lynched. In response, his Order founded a hospice in 1410 with help from Roman Catholic confreres for the mentally ill under the invocation of Sancta dels Folls Doña Nostra i Desamparats Innocents (Our Lady of the insane and the innocent; sometimes translated as Our Lady of the forsaken),[1] whose goal was to help people with mental illness. It has been claimed that this was the first psychiatric hospital in the world.[2][3]

Due to the famine of the period and the high rate of orphans due to the plague, the streets were filled with orphans. The hospice was soon expanded to assist orphans and foundlings, many the result of the plague.[4]

People with the name

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Given name

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Surname

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References

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  1. ^ "Our Lady of the Forsaken Part 1: History & The Dance – Hola Valencia Blog". Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  2. ^ [1][permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Alicia Giralt (2010-05-08). "mare de deu dels folls". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ Background on Father Jofré
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