Protection for a Helpless Child

III. Evidence of Early Care

Here is the description of the clothing worn by the infant Juan Bautista de la Concepción when he passed into the care of the Inclusa:

“Blouse and used nappy, both of thread, white felt jacket, neckerchief of ringspun cotton, two white embroidered bonnets – one each of cotton and of lace-trimmed, patterned felt, white embroidered cotton sash, and white shawl of embroidered felt.”

There are two classes of garment here, underclothing and outerwear. The underclothing includes the blouse and nappy made of “thread”, meaning linen in this context. Linen thread was used in the early modern age for all types of white fabric goods, both for clothing and use in the home: shirts, tunics, bedsheets, tablecloths and so forth. The lexicographer Covarrubias made this same observation, writing that linen was used to weave “cambric for shirts, bedsheets and undergarments, and for many other purposes”.

To keep out the cold, Juan Bautista wore a neckerchief of ringspun cotton, which may indicate that it was made of Rouen cloth, or chenille, since this was a fabric made from ringspun cotton and generally white. In that period, instead of this sort of neckerchief babies could also be dressed in a wrap, or “breast cover”, which was a linen garment covering the head, shoulders and chest.

The outerwear, on the other hand (the jacket, shawl and one of the bonnets), was made of felt. It was common for winter clothes to be made from this material, which is warm while also being soft and smooth. We are told that Juan’s nappy was not new, yet his shawl and sash were both embroidered, and the felt bonnet lace-trimmed. This was not the clothing of labourers or villagers, who would only have had recourse to coarser materials such as hemp for the undergarments and fleece for the shawl. Juan’s dress, then, was of a certain affluence.

We cannot know who performed the weighty task of dressing the naked, newborn creature for the first time. It may have been the midwife, or a relative or close friend of the mother, or even the mother herself if she had felt strong enough. What we can say is that Juan was left abandoned by whomever it was, but not unprotected. [José Antonio Fernández Fernández and Wolfram Aichinger.]