In this article the poor and poverty are analyzed in testaments of Santiago de Chile between the end of the 16th century and the first third of the 17th century, based on a documentary corpus of 300 testaments. It is considered that fear, behaviour, and practices with regard to poverty and the poor in this period are related to death and the judgment of God. For that reason, the poor appear as the opportunity to teach Christian lessons, collecting merits, and improving the future of their own souls. Therefore, the challenge is to examine the testaments of Santiago in order to identify the presence of the poor and poverty, paying attention to understand the meaning of those concepts in the mentality of the testators.
poverty; testaments; Chile
