Medieval Hospitals

• Why did the Church play a large role in developing hospitals?

  it was a central part of Christian duty to look after the poor and sick
• How many hospitals were set up in the 12th and 13th centuries?

  over 160, some were attached to monasteries and some refused to take in the very sick or women
• What did Lanfranc do for hospitals?

  constructed a good foundation for different needs and made separate wards for men and women
• Who couldn't be admitted into hospital?

  no lepers, lunatics, contagious diseases, pregnant women
• St Bartholomew's Hospital

  • London
  • 1123
  • specialised in treatment of poor pregnant women
• St Mary of Bethlehem

  • 1247
  • specialised in treatment of 'poor and silly persons'
• What did many towns have set up?

  leper houses or hospitality for travellers
• What were almhouses?

  provided a home for the old and those who would otherwise have to live on the streets
• What were early hospitals like?

  safe lodging houses with more of a focus on providing rest rather than curing illness due to little knowledge of illnesses
• How were hospitals funded?

  by the Church or the rich leaving endowments
• What happened in a medieval hospital?

  went to the chapel, the bath and your clothes would be boiled or baked, care was usually distributed by nuns or elderly, few employed physicians or surgeons
• What was the main treatment?

  prayer, occupants would profess their sins, and pray to God, believing that their illness came from him as a punishment

  herbal remedies were also common