COMPAGNIA DELLA CARITÀ

COMPANY OF CHARITY. — Established in Rome on 1 January 1519 by Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici, it soon included cardinals, prelates of the Curia, merchants, and other officials who were attached to the church of S. Andrea in Arenula with the aim of providing for the “poor in shame,” prisoners, and the wretched of every condition. The Company took special care of the monastery of the Convertite. On 28 January 1520, as the number of adherents had grown, Cardinal de’ Medici erected it as an archconfraternity; upon becoming Pope as Clement VII, he granted to his confraternity the church of S. Girolamo, previously served by the Observant Franciscans, which henceforth took the name of S. Girolamo della Carità and began to be served by twelve chaplains. It had a cardinal protector and survived even the Sack of 1527, which interrupted the activity of so many pious works. Later, St. Philip Neri was for many years a guest at S. Girolamo della Carità.