Rahere has been described as the King’s minstrel or jester, but there is no authority for this. The writer of his life says that he was a frequenter of the palace, and of noblemen’s houses, and made himself so agreeable as to be highly esteemed as the leader of tumultuous pleasures. He was, however, converted to a better state of life, but probably, as is the wont of those who write about conversions, the author rather darkens the picture of the courtier’s early follies. Rahere determined to go to Rome, and after visiting the shrines of St. Peter and St. Paul, he was taken ill with a grievous sickness. He feared that God was angry with him for his sins, and he vowed that if God would give him health so that he might return to his own country, ‘he would make an hospital in recreation of poor men, and to them so there gathered, necessaries minister after his power.’
In the night he saw a vision which filled him with dread. He seemed to be borne up on high by a beast having four feet and two wings, and set down in a high place. From this great height he looked into a deep pit, and he feared to slide down into it. Then appeared to him a certain man of great beauty and majesty, who fastened his eye upon him and said, ‘O man, what and how much service shouldest thou give to him, that in so great peril hath brought help to thee?’ Rahere answered: ‘Whatsoever might be of heart and of might, diligently should I give, in recompense to my deliverer.’ So the kingly man spoke again: ‘I am Bartholomew, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, that came to succour thee in thine anguish, and to open to thee the secret mysteries of Heaven. Know me truly, by the will and commandment of the Holy Trinity, and the common favour of the celestial Court and Council, to have chosen a place in the suburbs of London, at Smithfield, where in my name thou shalt found a church, and it shall be the house of God.... My part shall be to provide necessaries, direct, build and end this work; and this place to me accept with evident tokens and signs, protect and defend continually it under my wings; and therefore of this work know me the master, and thyself only the minister; use diligently thy service, and I shall show my lordship.’
Rahere when he got back to London made overtures to the citizens for the purpose of obtaining the land he required for building, and the authorities were favourable to his scheme, but they could not settle the matter until Henry I. had been consulted, because the place at Smithfield was within the King’s market. When the petitioner applied to the King his plea was acceded to, and he was given authority to execute his purpose.
It is not quite clear where all the money came from for the carrying out so vast an undertaking, but Rahere had a winning way, and from the King downwards he appears to have obtained liberal help. Before he could build he had to drain the land, which was nothing but a marsh, and when he went there the only sign of civilisation about was a gibbet. The hospital, which from the first was a hospital for the sick, and not a mere almshouse, had a master, eight brethren and four sisters.
The first master was Alfun, an old man who had previously built the Church of St. Giles, Cripplegate, and Rahere was the first prior.
Alfun was also styled hospitaler or proctor of the poor, and the writer of the manuscript Life of Rahere tells how it was the custom of Alfun to go about begging for provisions and other necessaries for the poor men that lay in the hospital, he also looked after the welfare of those who were employed in building the church. Rahere had many troubles in his later life, and a large number of envious enemies spoke evil of him and did him injuries. There was a plot against his life, which failed on account of the confession of a penitent conspirator. He had, however, a good friend in the King, who helped him and confirmed his previous grant by a charter which gave full liberty and great privileges to the priory and hospital. When, therefore, Rahere died, after having been prior for twenty-two years and six months, he left his great establishment in a prosperous condition.
Dr. Norman Moore points out that in the Life of Rahere there is an account of the admission of the first patients of which we have any record. This was a man named Adwyne, who came up to London from Dunwich, in Suffolk, in the reign of Henry II. There are many records of people who were supposed to be healed by praying at Rahere’s tomb, but this man is described as having been admitted into the hospital, and therefore a genuine patient. He was discharged cured, but although his condition is described no details of his treatment are given. Dr. Moore supposes that by long lying in bed Adwyne’s muscles had become anaemic and enfeebled. He was encouraged ‘to move his limbs a little, and he found that he was able to move them much more than he expected; he began to make small objects, commencing with cutting and carving, and so at last was able to work again, and to follow the craft of a carpenter.’[153]
