The Mediæval Hospitals of England

by Rotha Mary Clay

First Published in 1909

DEDICATED TO

FRANCES ARNOLD-FORSTER

WITH GRATEFUL AFFECTION

PREFACE

WHEN the able author of this book asked me to write a Preface to a work on Hospitals, I replied that I must first see the sheets in proof. This was not due to any doubt of the ability of the writer, it was due to some doubt as to the adequacy of the material at her disposal. This doubt has been much more than removed. The mass of the material collected is remarkable. Still more remarkable is the evidence of the very large part played by Hospitals—in the widest senses of the word—in the social life of the people of this land in the earlier Middle Ages. For the fuller understanding of the social life of our ancestors, this book contributes information of the most luminous character. It will serve also as an example and pattern for young and earnest students of real history, the history of ordinary human beings rather than of generals and of kings. And it must be added that, although the division into numerous headings leads to frequent repetitions of the names and characters of institutions of the nature of Hospitals, it has the great advantage of reducing to order a mass of material which might under less careful treatment have had a chaotic appearance. As a book of reference for readers and writers, this treatise on the Mediæval Hospitals of England ought to hold a distinguished place.

G. F. BRISTOL

July, 1909.

CONTENTS
Preface by the Lord Bishop of Bristol		[vii]
Introduction		[xvii]
PART I
	CHAPTER I Hospitals for Wayfarers and the Sick	[1]
	CHAPTER II Homes for the Feeble and Destitute	[15]
	CHAPTER III Homes for the Insane	[31]
	CHAPTER IV The Lazar-House	[35]
	CHAPTER V The Leper in England	[48]
	CHAPTER VI Founders and Benefactors	[70]
	CHAPTER VII Hospital Inmates	[91]
	CHAPTER VIII Hospital Dwellings	[106]
	CHAPTER IX The Constitution	[126]
	CHAPTER X The Household and its Members	[143]
	CHAPTER XI Care of the Soul	[158]
	CHAPTER XII Care of the Body	[167]
	CHAPTER XIII Hospital Funds	[178]
	CHAPTER XIV Relations with Church and State	[194]
	CHAPTER XV Decline of the Hospitals	[212]
	CHAPTER XVI The Dissolution of Religious Houses and its Effect upon Hospitals	[226]
PART IIHospital Patron-Saints		[244]
APPENDIX AOffice at the Seclusion of a Leper		[273]
APPENDIX BTabulated List of Foundations		[278]
Bibliography		[339]
General Index		[343]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT * Asterisk denotes that buildings remain inmuch the same condition as shown. ¶ Theseals are copied mainly from impressions in the British Museum.
[1].	St. John’s Hosp­i­tal, Ox­ford [After M. Paris, B.M. Roy. 14 C. vii. f. 221.]	J. Charles Wall	1
[2].	A Pil­grim [B.M. 17 C. xxxviii. f. 39, xiv. cent.]	J. Charles Wall	6
[3].	Domus Con­ver­sor­um, Lon­don [Idem.] Home for Jews, founded 1232. Site occupied by Rolls Chapel, Chancery Lane.	J. Charles Wall	20
[4].	*Poor Priests’ Hos­pi­tal, Can­ter­bury [From Ancient Cities Series.]	B. C. Boulter	23
[5].	*The Bede-House, Stam­ford	J. Charles Wall	29
[6].	Seal of the Lazar-House, Mile End	J. Charles Wall	47
[7].	The Leper and the Phy­si­cian [Trin. Coll. Camb. O.I. 20, by permission of the Librarian.] Represents, perhaps, the examination of a suspected person.	J. Charles Wall	59
[8].	Elias, a Leper-monk [Notes on Painted Glass in Canterbury Cathedral; from window in the Trinity Chapel, partly new, partly fragments of old glass.]	J. Charles Wall	64
[9].	A Leper [Exeter Pontifical, B.M. Lands. 451 f. 127; xiv. cent. MS., marginal sketch possibly xv. cent.]	J. Charles Wall	68
[10].	“The Memorial of Ma­til­da the Queen” [After Matthew Paris, Hist. Major, Corp. Chr. Coll. Camb., MS. xvi, xxvi, by permission of the Librarian.] Memoriale Matildis reginæ scilicet hospitale Sancti Egidii quod est Londoniæ.	J. Charles Wall	71
[11].	*Tomb of Ra­here in St. Bar­tho­lo­mew’s, Smith­field	J. Charles Wall	76
[12].	Me­mor­ial Brass of John Bar­stap­le [By kind permission of Mr. J. W. Arrowsmith.]	—	84
[13].	*St. Bartholomew’s Hos­pi­tal, Bris­tol [By kind permission of the Proprietor of the Western Daily Press.]	S. J. Loxton	89
[14].	Seal of St. Bar­tho­lo­mew’s, Lon­don	J. Charles Wall	93
[15].	Seal of Knights­bridge Hos­pi­tal Depicts Blessed Virgin and Child with St. Leonard. Inscribed: Sigillum: ospici sci: lenarde (?): kynght brigge.	J. Charles Wall	103
[16].	Seal of St. Alexis, Exeter	J. Charles Wall	107
[17].	Seal of St. John’s, Exeter	J. Charles Wall	107
[18].	Seal of St. John’s, Staf­ford	J. Charles Wall	108
[19].	Plan of St. Mary’s, Chichester [Dollman’s Domestic Architecture.]	J. Charles Wall	112
[20].	Plan of St. Nich­o­las’, Sal­is­bury Drawn by Mr. J. Arthur Reeve, architect. By kind permission of Canon Wordsworth.	—	113
[21].	Sherburn Hospital, near Dur­ham [Hutchinson’s Durham, 1787.] The gateway and chapel remain.	—	118
[22].	Plan of St. Mary Mag­da­lene’s, Win­ches­ter [After Schnebbelie.]	J. Charles Wall	119
[23].	*Chapel of Abbot Beere’s Alms­house, Glas­ton­bury	J. Charles Wall	124
[24].	Seal of the le­per-wo­men of West­min­ster	J. Charles Wall	147
[25].	*Ancient Hos­pi­tal Al­tar at Glas­ton­bury [By kind permission of Mr. George Gregory, Bath, from Rev. C. L. Marson’s Glastonbury.] In the chapel of the almshouse founded or re-founded by Abbot Beere.	—	165
[26].	A Leper with clap­per and dish [After a Miniature in the Bibl. de l’Arsenal, Paris, MS. 5060; xiii. cent.; from La Vie Privée d’Autrefois, “L’Hygiène,” A. Franklin, 1890.]	—	177
[27].	Document and Seal of Holy In­no­cents’, Lincoln [B.M. Harl. ch. 44 A. 29.]	J. Charles Wall	180
[28].	Alms-box, Har­ble­down Hos­pi­tal Erasmus dropped a coin into it on his visit to Harbledown.	J. Charles Wall	192
[29].	*Bell-turret of St. Mary Mag­da­lene’s, Glas­ton­bury [From Ancient Cities Series.]	E. H. New	198
[30].	Seal of St. An­th­ony’s, Lon­don [Gent. Mag. 1784 ii.]	J. Charles Wall	208
[31].	*Gateway of St. John’s, Can­ter­bury [From Ancient Cities Series.]	B. C. Boulter	241
[32].	Seal of St. Mary Mag­da­lene’s, Bris­tol	J. Charles Wall	252
[33].	Seal of St. Mark’s, Bris­tol	J. Charles Wall	254
[34].	Seal of St. Cle­ment’s, Hod­des­don	J. Charles Wall	256
[35].	Seal of St. Kath­er­ine’s, Bris­tol	J. Charles Wall	260
[36].	A Pilgrim’s Sign [Collectanea Antiqua.] Canterbury souvenir found at York.	—	265
[37].	Seal of St. Bar­tho­lo­mew’s, Roch­ester	J. Charles Wall	271