The Dateus Founding Home in Milan: Questionable Date of Establishment

Abstract

The authors translated from latin to italian the living will of the priest Dateus from Milan, dated 787 a. C., found and published by Ludovico Antonio Muratori in his Antiquitates Italicae Medii Aevi (1740). In the document is specified the request of converting his house into a founding home. Many historians consider this to be the first example of a founding home in the western world. The AA., after review of the history and the literature, noted the lack of any documented activity of the institution, as well as, the unusual model proposed for that time. Therefore, it is the AA. belief that the original document is actually postdated to the 1550 a. C.