From Monastery to Hospital: Christian Monasticism and the Transformation of Health Care in Late Antiquity (review) (original) (raw)
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Care for the sick in ancient monasteries in the light of selected monastic rules
1970
Introduction The first form of monastic life, which emerged at the turn of the 3rd and 4th century, was anachorite. It consisted in the anchorite monk going to a secluded place, most often a desert, where, with only what nature gave him as food, he devoted himself to prayer, reading the Holy Bible, and ascetic practices 1. Slightly later the first cenobitic congregations were established. Cenobitism differed from anachorite mainly in the fact that the monks lived in a community in a closed monastery 2 and their lives were subordinate to the monastic rule. This rule "defined every aspect of a member's life. Food, work, prayer, clothes, rest are all inscribed in the schematic rhythm of the monastery life" 3. In his book on the ethical aspects of ancient medicine, P. Ashyk notes: "Many ancient religious rules instructed the monks in detail about their life, the rules of monastery functioning, the ascetic discipline in the communities giving their lives to God. The monks and nuns were subjected to very strict discipline, daily duties and mortifications were precisely specified. An organized religious community was intended as an efficiently managed structure, largely self-sufficient, organizing every aspect of its members from the moment they woke up to sleep" 4. This article attempts to answer the question of how Eastern and Western monastic rules normalized the life of sick people in ancient monasteries. Did they enjoy any special status among their brothers or sisters? What people in the monastery and how were responsible for the care of the sick? In this respect, the monastic rules are an interesting and unique source of information about the actions taken with regard to the sick members of a religious community who needed care 5. We thoroughly analysed several monastic rules from this perspective. These rules were established in various regions of the then world: Egypt, North 1
The Reading Medievalist: A Postgraduate Journal, 2015
Hospitals and alms-houses formed an important part of monastery’s charitable activities, the importance of which is emphasised at numerous points in the Rule of St Benedict and chapter 53 even begins with “Let all guests who arrive be received as Christ, because He will say: “I was a stranger and you took Me in”. Charity however varied greatly from house to house with food, money and even clothing given frequently but with no real consistency between institutions. This paper discusses the siting of hospitals, as well as alms-houses, within the gatehouse complex of these institutions and offer explanations as to why they were placed here, and what purpose they served. Whether this location was merely one of convenience, or inherently linked with the ideals of the religious community is considered, drawing comparisons with other hospital sites.
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The early medieval monastic world deals in many ways as a topic of research. More exact it bears lots of different possible point of views in historical sciences. This article tries to state a different one by connecting history and furthermore religion with natural science, which is nowadays often seen as antithetic. In the beginning it may seem oppositional, but in fact in the Middle Ages, medicine was part of the monastic world.
Monasticism: Care After Cure (Healing, Medical Care & Wellbeing in Early Egyptian Monasticism
I bridge two areas of scholarship: the history of medicine and the study of early Egyptian monasticism, against the backdrop of early Christian theology and spirituality. In so doing, I hope that this initial research justifies the inauguration of an Introduction to Medical Theology. Such an interdisciplinary study would be similar to other science branches that fuse two different fields together such as biochemistry, physical chemistry, bioengineering or Christian counseling. Such a study, furthermore, could inspire new ways of studying professional theology, relating Christianity to various occupations, such as engineering, law, teaching and the arts.
Mending Bodies, Saving Souls: A History of Hospitals , 1999
Another aspect of Christian hospitality linked to the care of the sick were Europe’s Benedictine monasteries. This chapter illuminates these activities, retelling a contemporary account describing an accident that occurred around the year 968 involving the ruling abbot of the St Gall monastery, a famous Benedictine institution near Lake Constance. For better context, the incident allows for a brief history of this prominent establishment and Benedict’s successful monastic movement before focusing on the spectrum of caregiving efforts centered on its infirmaries and hostels. Details regarding the communitarian and medical approaches follow, including the important role played by St. Gall’s infirmarius in managing the spiritual, medical and surgical aspects of the injury afflicting its abbot. A final comment on the eclipse of monastic medicine stresses the growing rise of lay medicine.