Hospital Life: Theory and Practice from the Medieval to the Modern (original) (raw)

The Study of Medieval Hospitals: an Ongoing History

Svmma Revista De Cultures Medievals, 2013

On 17 April 1401, the bishop of Barcelona, the canons of the cathedral, the town councilmen and the Aragonese royal family, headed by King Martin, the Humane, took part in the founding ceremony of the Hospital de la Santa Creu. All of them joined in a solemn procession, full of symbolism, which carried the first four stones from the cathedral to a plot of land in the Raval quarter where the new building was to be erected. The presence of the representatives of the main territorial and urban authorities indicated their commitment to the brand-new institution, conceived to provide assistance to the poor, the sick and most of the marginalized who crowded the streets and roads of Barcelona, and the rest of the Catalan-Aragonese commonwealth; at least according to the first regulations, passed in 1417, which explicitly noted that 'poor men and women, disabled, crippled, insane and wounded people, and those suffering from several other human miseries, were admitted, received, maintained and fed in great numbers'. 1 The same text praises the hospital and likens it to the most noble public spaces of the city, describing it as 'light, nobility, ornament, praise, glory and wealth' of the city. 2

Medicalization: Hospitals Become Site of Medical Care and Learning

unpublished , 2004

This synopsis depicts the development of the Western hospital in modern times with an emphasis on institutional medicalization. Covering the period from the Renaissance until 1900, the essay focuses on the ecological, social, and economic factors that prompted the transformation of Christian shelters into medical instruments for the acquisition of knowledge, education, and caregiving. A final conclusion argues that hospital experiences indelibly structured the character of Western medicine, its science, training, and patient management. Disease oriented, with acute and dramatic interventions, it tends to depersonalize the sick as part of a complex, pathologically grounded nosology derived from generations of inmates.

The medieval and early modern hospital. A Physical and Symbolic Space

2023

This volume explores the physical dimension of hospitals as both tangible buildings and symbolic vehicles, examining their impact on urban and rural landscapes. It serves as a testament to the current vitality of hospital studies in the Iberian Peninsula and territories once part of the Crown of Aragon. Contributions from diverse regions, including Northern and Central Italy and the Iberian Muslim world, enrich the discourse and showcase collaborative scholarly connections. The book is divided into four sections: an introduction to key themes, a collection of articles on hospital heritage and urban landscapes, an exploration of the relationship between hospitals and their surroundings, and a final section on medicine and epidemics. It encompasses the work of both established and emerging scholars, while also representing the professional and personal bonds fostered among researchers from different universities and centers

The evolution of the hospital from antiquity to the end of the middle ages

Curationis, 2002

The evolution of the hospital is traced from its onset in ancient Mesopotamia towards the end of the 2nd millennium to the end of the Middle Ages. Reference is made to institutionalised health care facilities in India as early as the 5th century BC, and with the spread of Buddhism to the east, to nursing facilities, the nature and function of which are not known to us, in Sri Lanka, China and South East Asia. Special attention is paid to the situation in the Graeco-Roman era: one would expect to find the origin of the hospital in the modern sense of the word in Greece, the birthplace of rational medicine in the 4th century BC, but the Hippocratic doctors paid house-calls, and the temples of Asclepius were visited for incubation sleep and magico-religious treatment. In Roman times the military and slave hospitals which existed since the 1st century AD, were built for a specialized group and not for the public, and were therefore also not precursors of the modern hospital. It is to the Christians that one must turn for the origin of the modern hospital. Hospices, initially built to shelter pilgrims and messengers between various bishops, were under Christian control developed into hospitals in the modern sense of the word. In Rome itself, the first hospital was built in the 4th century AD by a wealthy penitent widow, Fabiola. In the early Middle Ages (6th to 10th century), under the influence of the Benedictine Order, an infirmary became an established part of every monastery. During the late Middle Ages (beyond the 10th century) monastic infirmaries continued to expand, but public hospitals were also opened, financed by city authorities, the church and private sources. Specialized institutions, like leper houses, also originated at this time. During the Golden Age of Islam the Muslim world was clearly more advanced than its Christian counterpart with magnificent hospitals in various countries.

Healthcare and Medicine in Medieval Western Hospitals

«Medicina nei secoli. Journal of History of Medicine and Medical Humanities», 36/1, 2024

Hospitals are an innovation dating back to Late Antiquity, and their proliferation in the Western world is closely tied to the advancements of Christianity and ecclesiastical institutions. Since their inception, hospitals have provided various forms of aid to various categories of destitute individuals, which could include medical treatments in line with Gospel precepts. However, for much of the Middle Ages, the majority of hospitals struggled to secure the services of medical practitioners on a permanent basis, albeit with some exceptions. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, though, the processes of medicalization within the realm of hospital care gained greater intensity and prevalence. This transformation was facilitated by the increased availability of both financial resources and proficient medical personnel, particularly physicians and surgeons trained in academic settings.

"Hospitals in the Middle Ages"

A Companion to the Medieval World, 2009

Hospitals in the Middle Ages were, first of all, places of hospitality, i.e., shelters for those who were temporarily or permanently without a home. The earliest, dating from the fourth century, served pilgrims and the poor of cities in the eastern Mediterranean. By the sixth century, such shelters were also found in western Europe where they served itinerants of all sorts. Here, with the decline of urban life, the relatively few hospitals were rural and frequently associated with monasteries. After 1000, however, alongside western Europe's urban renaissance, hospitals for the first time became prominent in western Europe. By the end of the twelfth century, they numbered in the thousands as virtually every community of any size acquired one or more of these institutions. The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries saw a rapid proliferation of hospitals and by the end of the Middle Ages cities such as Paris counted upwards of sixty shelters.

WRITING HOSPITAL HISTORY FROM BELOW: A COMMENTARY

2000

Autobiographical account and historiographical analysis from the author of Mending Bodies, Saving Souls: A History of Hospitals, (Oxford Univ. Press, 1999) about his motives and efforts to plan and write this book with special emphasis on patient-centered narratives.