Medieval Hospitals

Oggetto del saggio è un dipinto della Collezione Horne di Firenze, per il quale si illustrano delle novità circa la sua provenienza dall'antico Ospedale di San Paolo in Santa Maria Novella attraverso documenti conservati nell’Archivio di Stato di Firenze.

With his solemn canonisation in 1450, Bernardin of Siena was officially presented as a model for preachers and as a re-founder of the Franciscan Order. His tireless commitment to preaching and his virtues as a friar made him a perfect model for the religious. However, his life before entering the Franciscans permitted to present him also as a saint in which the lay people could find an inspiring example for their own lives. This paper highlights this less studied aspect of the formation and evolution of the cult of St Bernardin by considering the earliest Vitae and sermons in honour of this saint as well as a peculiar cycle of frescos in Lodi. This allows to investigate in which way the hagiographical image of St Bernardin’s adolescence and youth was constructed, which episodes of his life in seculo received more attention and which virtues were put at the forefront. It emerges a vivid and multifaceted portray of a felix adulescentia, in which piety and charity had a central role in shaping the profile of the new saint, whose life was strictly connected with both the love of the Virgin and the active service in the city. In this way, the paper shows that St Bernardin was not only presented as a perfect preacher, but also as a perfect layman who lived with charity and chastity in the secular world.

Resumo
Este estudo tem por objetivo dar a conhecer o modo como o Homem medieval enfrentou os desafios que se colocavam à sua saúde e bem-estar na cidade e região de Coimbra, nos finais da Idade Média. Começamos por descrever alguns dos tratamentos e cuidados dispensados aos doentes no meio urbano e social onde estavam integrados, focando-nos depois na assistência prestada aos enfermos nos hospitais de Coimbra e de Montemor-o-Velho. Por fim, centraremos a nossa atenção nas medidas de controlo de doenças contagiosas, como a lepra, e de surtos de peste, adotadas pelos poderes civis. **//**
Abstract
The goal of this article is to analyse how the medieval Man faced the challenges to his health and wellbeing in the late medieval Coimbra city and region. We start to describe the treatment and care given to the sick in their urban and social environment, focusing on those provided in Coimbra and Montemor-o-Velho hospitals. Finally, we will examine the measures taken by civil authorities to control plague outbreaks and other contagious diseases, like leprosy.

The historiography of central and northern Italy produced several studies on the care of abandoned children, thanks to the good condition of the sources. Instead, the historiographical framework of the Sicilian cities is extremely poor. In the case of Palermo, the absence of works dedicated to the topic of the foundlings can be explained by the dispersion of the documents stored in the historical archive of the Ospedale Grande (Great Hospital). So focusing on the welfare policy of this institution is very difficult, especially for Middle Ages. The essay intends to investigate on the policies about abandoned children chosen by the city of Palermo and the Ospedale Grande at the end of the Fifteenth Century by using unpublished documents, i.e. the chapters about the care of abandoned children presented in 1480 by the rectors of the Ospedale Grande of Palermo to the city authorities for approval.

Los grandes hospitales urbanos representan un observatorio privilegiado para el estudio del mundo laboral, del aprendizaje y de los salarios. A lo largo de la Baja Edad Media, estas instituciones fueron espacios de experimentación de múltiples y diferentes prácticas de relaciones laborales. El objetivo de esta aproximación comparativa es dúplice: en primer lugar, delinear y describir de forma esquemática la hipotética plantilla del personal estable de un gran hospital urbano; en segundo lugar, evidenciar la riqueza de matices entre las diferentes categorías de trabajadores hospitalarios, en lo que concierne tanto a los salarios, como a las especializaciones profesionales y las condiciones laborales.

In July 2010 an excavation was undertaken in the car park of the Masonic hall at Bawtry, South Yorkshire as part of a field school run by the Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, with support from Wessex Archaeology (Sheffield). The Masonic hall was the chapel of the medieval hospital of Bawtry, and the principal aim of the field school was to throw new light on the hospital and on the cemetery that was associated with it, which had been identified during excavations in 2006 and 2007. During the 2010 excavation, eighteen graves were identified, and subsequent analysis of both the articulated and disarticulated skeletal remains identified a minimum number of fifty three individuals. It was demonstrated that the cemetery served a broad cross-section of the population, which was relatively healthy. A radiocarbon date is awaited from one of the skeletons, but at this stage all of the evidence indicates that the burials were all of later medieval date. A small number of medieval artefacts were recovered, including a 13th-century coin, a copper-alloy plate (of a type used in medieval medicinal cures for damaged or infected joints) and the copper-alloy ferrule from the end of a walking stick. The remains of a late medieval wall were encountered running eastwards from the east wall of the Masonic hall; this wall was either the remains of a boundary wall or of a building, and it appears to be perpetuated into the 19th century, when a wall in a similar location is depicted on images of the chapel.

La publicació del Memorial dels infants de l’Hospital de la Santa Creu de Barcelona posa a l’abast dels estudiosos una font de primera mà per a l’estudi de la història hospitalària a la ciutat de Barcelona, i es mostra, una vegada més, la capacitat d’aquesta ciutat, de les seves institucions i els seus representants de posar-se al capdavant de les reformes hospitalàries que exigia la societat barcelonina de principis del segle xv, contemporàniament al que s’estava produint a altres ciutats europees com Siena, Florència, París, Milà o Nàpols.

L’estudi previ a l’edició del Memorial ressalta el paper de l’escriptura com a eina fonamental per a la conservació, custòdia i gestió de la documentació que va generar l’Hospital. Ben aviat va sorgir la necessitat d’elaborar unes ordinacions per regular l’exercici, el correcte funcionament dels diferents serveis, la documentació que s’hi produïa, les obligacions dels oficials i treballadors, en definitiva, i en paraules dels autors, “ordenar de forma eficaç tot allò que era necessari per a l’organització de l’Hospital”. Hi ha una clara voluntat de control de totes les activitats dutes a terme i de totes les persones involucrades, entre les quals les criatures que eren deixades a les seves portes, autèntiques protagonistes del Memorial i de molta altra documentació notarial.

Codificate sulla base della Scrittura e divulgate attraverso una pluralità di testi e immagini, le opere di misericordia fornirono a istituzioni e città un riferimento fondamentale nell’individuare bisogni primari e interventi esemplari della carità pubblica.
I saggi raccolti in questo volume si interrogano sulla trasformazione delle politiche di misericordia tra medioevo e prima età moderna. Grazie a un approccio multidisciplinare, il volume indaga  come la misericordia venne declinata quale virtù politica, tesa a rendere meno feroce la società, mitigando il vivere comune in nome dell’ideale evangelico. La riflessione teologica e la retorica della carità servirono – non senza ambiguità − a catalizzare energie, a elaborare progetti sociali, a rendere riconoscibili e credibili antiche e recenti istituzioni, a sostenere politiche di soccorso e, anche, di controllo e disciplinamento. In nome della medesima carità si poteva infatti sia elargire un aiuto generalizzato, sia attuare un’attenta selezione, basata sull’idea che l’assistenza era un diritto riservato ad alcuni ma precluso a molti, giudicati indesiderati, pericolosi e viziosi.

The first chronicles on the diffusion of the “french disease” in Italy date back to the summer of 1495. As it was interpreted as a divine punishment and a new and incurable illness, the disease was promptly associated to the one that had affected Job. The essay focuses on the analysis of two poems (cantari) in ottava rima: the Historia di sancto Iob propheta of Giuliano Dati, and a briefer remake, the anonymous Prego devotissimo. The two pamphlets were diffused at a low cost and it’s probable that they were publicly read in squares. In respect with the Bible, they supply a very simplified version, where the steady patience of the protagonist in suffering and tribulations is enhanced on the only basis of its prose frame context (instead, the lively poetic dialogue with his friends is almost completely wiped out). To «Saint Job», to whom people appeal so that he could intercede to God in favour of the sinners and persuade them to imitate him, was, therefore, dedicated a cult promoted by confraternities entitled to him. These confraternities founded hospitals for ‘the Incurables’, specifically for french disease-affected patients dedicated in some cases to the same Job, patron of the franciosati. In addition, a series of literary and iconographic documents (fifteen for central-northern Italy) witness the devotion.

This work aims to reconstruct the rise of the hospital of Santa Maria della Misericordia dei Battuti in Udine in the XIVth century, considering both the expansion of its lands and real estate - as well as its economic management - and the development of its administrative structure and officers. The following pages cover the first forty years (1320-1360) of existence of the institution and of the Fraterna dei Battuti that founded and administrated the hospital (1320-1360).
The prime objective has been to explain and evaluate the reasons behind the sudden rise of Santa Maria dei Battuti, its succes in drawing charitable donations and bequests, and to start inquiring into the behavior of the Confraternity inside the rising land and money market of Udine.
The documentary appendices (pp. 85-249) has been omitted.




Il presente lavoro mira a ricostruire l'ascesa dell'ospedale di Santa Maria della Misericordia dei Battuti a Udine nel XIV secolo, considerando tanto l'espansione dei possessi immobiliari e fondiari - così come la loro gestione economica - e lo sviluppo della sua struttura amministrativa e degli ufficiali. Le pagine che seguono coprono i primi quaranta anni (1320-1360) di esistenza dell'istituzione e della Fraterna dei Battuti che fondò e amministrò l'ospedale.
Lo scopo principale è stato di spiegare e valutare le ragioni dietro la subitanea ascesa di Santa Maria dei Battuti, il suo successo nell'attirare donazioni e lasciti, e di iniziare a indagare il comportamento della confraternita all'interno del nascente mercato della terra e del credito della città di Udine.
Le appendici documentarie (pp. 85-249) sono state omesse.

Sono pubblicati gli inventari e i documenti dell'Archivio della Real Casa Santa dell'Annunziata di Napoli, le cui carte costituiscono uno dei più grandi archivi ospedalieri italiani e certamente il più importante archivio sull'infanzia abbandonata del Mezzogiorno d'Italia.

Historic Scotland sponsored fieldwork between 1997 and 2000 on the Scottish medieval hospital is discussed and its results considered. A full list of all the various types of hospital is given and suggestions are made for the protection and possible excavation of this neglected monument type.  Paper was published in Volume 12 of the Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal in 2006.

The novel coronavirus is both something old and something new. As usual, the pandemic is both health and economic shock, but the fact that it has hit China first and hardest, and its impact of health and economy broadly. This paper examines the origin and historical back occurrences of the diseases. It focuses on the demand and supply of medical resources available to victims of COVID19 and statistical forecast. Several confirmed cases and deaths took place up to April 10, 2020, in top-ten most affected countries by the disease. The top-ten countries are USA,

Il legame tra mondo femminile e ospedali è attestato per tutto il medioevo: abbiamo testimonianze già alto e pieno medievali, che si infittiscono a partire dai secoli XII e XIII e che ci restituiscono una ricca campionatura di donne che fondarono, sovvenzionarono, diressero, governarono, frequentarono, insomma di donne che vissero l’ospedale con ruoli differenti. Nonostante si tratti di un fenomeno diffuso, la partecipazione delle donne al mondo degli ospedali medievali ha goduto nel complesso di un’attenzione minore rispetto a quella prestata ad analoghe presenze femminili all’interno di contesti monastici, conventuali o confraternali, ovvero in quegli spazi che nella società dell’epoca si aprivano alle donne che si misuravano con istanze di religiosità e di aiuto al prossimo bisognoso. In una storia ospedaliera che, pur con diversità di accenti, viene oggi considerata come risultante dell’influsso di molteplici fattori – sociali, religiosi, politici, ideologici – rimangono da collocare le modalità della partecipazione femminile, modalità che in parte rispecchiano quelle maschili, più di quanto forse non ci si aspetterebbe, e in parte presentano specificità. In un percorso metaforico dalle “grandi” alle “piccole” donne, il contributo si sofferma in particolare su tre punti: memoria, lavoro, famiglia. Ovvero su fondazioni e dotazioni ospedaliere come occasione per le donne di una consapevole costruzione di una memoria di sé; sullo svolgimento da parte delle donne di lavori all’interno delle strutture ospedaliere, lavori posti concettualmente tra opus e servitium; e infine sul rapporto tra le donne e la famiglia, quella originaria e quella ospedaliera, nel momento in cui queste entravano in un ente assistenziale, senza dimenticare quelle “piccole donne”, ovvero quelle bambine e fanciulle che furono “figlie degli ospedali”.

A nossa dissertação centra-se no estudo de uma instituição de assistência medieval, destinada a acolher leprosos: o Hospital de S. Lázaro ou Gafaria de Coimbra. Estabelecido nos inícios do século XIII, num período de proliferação destas casas assistenciais, traçamos o seu processo evolutivo até finais do século XV, do ponto de vista institucional e patrimonial. Por um lado, analisa-se a consolidação do hospital ao longo da primeira centúria de existência, a sua estrutura administrativa, as normas e práticas de funcionamento e a sua interligação com os poderes régio e concelhio. Por outro, concede-se atenção à constituição do património da Gafaria, sua localização, principais tipos de prédios que detinha, política de exploração da propriedade e conflitos que a instituição teve de enfrentar, relacionados com a posse desses bens. Tratando-se de um estabelecimento destinado a leprosos, contextualizamos a nossa investigação com uma análise da doença de que padeciam os habitantes de S. Lázaro e do lugar ocupado por esses indivíduos na sociedade medieval, a qual tanto os votou ao afastamento como lhes dirigiu a sua caridade.

Este libro es un ejercicio de síntesis histórica que analiza las instituciones hospitalarias de todo Aragón durante cuatrocientos años. Para ello ha utilizado un corpus documental heterogéneo de variados archivos estatales, provinciales, eclesiásticos o municipales. La obra se compone de dos partes. En la primera se define el concepto de hospital y se presentan los agentes que intervinieron en su desarrollo de forma activa (promotores y trabajadores) y de forma pasiva (pobres y miserables). La segunda parte consiste en un estado de la cuestión sobre el fenómeno hospitalario en cada una de las regiones aragonesas del Aragón medieval, incluyendo tanto el mundo urbano como el rural.

This research paper was presented at the 6th international conference on the Military Orders at Palmela, Portugal, in 2010. I suggested a paper on the topic of Charity and Hospitality in the Military Orders, not because I myself am an expert on it, but because this is an area on which at the time of the conference much more research needed to be done.  I was then in the process of putting together material on this subject from the Britain and Ireland, but as the sources are very scattered this research was and is by no means complete. Unlike the orders’ military activity, which was reported by chronicles and histories, and their acquisitions of lands, recorded in charters, and their work for kings and princes, recorded in government records, the sources of information on charity and hospitality are scattered and variable. Although when I initially suggested this subject to the conference organisers I had hoped to talk about several of the military religious orders, in order to fit into the 20-minute time slot at the conference I had to cut back my original intentions. In this paper I concentrated on the material from Britain relating to the Hospitallers and the Templars, as that was the area of my current research; and much of my analysis focuses on the problems of finding reliable evidence on the topic.
The paper was published in the proceedings of the conference in 2012.

Durante l'età medievale le confraternite a Cividale del Friuli erano 8; il saggio studia le due più importanti (quella di Santa Maria dei Battuti e quella dei Fabbri, poi detta di Santo Spirito), che controllavano i principali ospedali cittadini (rispettivamente San Martino e Santo Spirito). Lo studio delle oltre 900 pergamene del fondo dell'ospedale, dei registri dei camerari, delle definizioni e degli statuti, ha permesso di capire il funzionamento delle due strutture ospedaliere, l'organigramma delle fraterne che li gestivano e come esse si distribuissero gli spazi urbani.
In appendice sono pubblicate le tabelle coi nomi dei principali ufficiali delle fratrerne tra XIV e XV secolo e le loro professioni".

How driving your kids to a birthday party can bring about unexpected findings... Published in: Voyageurs, en route ! Circonstances et objectifs de la mobilité des hommes au Moyen Âge, voies d'eau et de terre, ed. A. Stuckens, Bouvignes-Dinant, 2019 (Cahiers de la Maison du patrimoine médiéval mosan, 13), p. 91-109.

Il saggio ricostruisce le vicende che, in linea con quanto avviene in altri aree, portano nel Quattrocento a una riorganizzazione delle strutture ospedaliere palermitane, con l'aggregazione delle tante piccole realtà assistenziali presenti nel territorio. A chiusura del saggio sono pubblicati i capitoli inediti del 1431 presentati dall'universitas di Palermo all'arcivescovo de Marinis per l'approvazione dell'unione degli ospedali in un solo, grande e nuovo, ente assistenziale.

SILVA, Gonçalo Melo da, “Nobilitação e Espiritualidade na Lisboa Medieval: os Nogueira, os Brito e a paróquia de São Lourenço (1296-1523)”, in COSTA, Adelaide Millán da e JARA FUENTE, José Antonio (eds.), Conflito político: lucha y cooperación. Ciudad y nobleza en Portugal y Castilla en la baja Edad Media, Lisboa, IEM, 2017, pp. 341-373. ISBN: 978-989-99567-5-9.

[EN] Bobbio’s network of hospitals between early and late middle ages.
A survey of Bobbio’s assistential foundations between the Early and the Late Middle Ages offers an excellent example of how and why a network of hospitals could develop, of the extension of such a network, coupled with the capacity to survive on the territory and finally of the extent to which such a setup could last. This paper analyses the functions which the hospitals depending from the monastery and the diocese of Bobbio exercised during the centuries spanning from the Early to the Late Middle Ages. An accurate analysis of the sources enables to highlight three fundamental aspects: first that from a quantitative and qualitative point of view, Bobbio’s network
of hospitals presents characteristics which are of more interest to the scholar of the Early rather than Late Middle Ages. This aspect is in stark contrast to the radical increase in the practices of charity operated by the religiously-inspired lay from the 12th century onwards. This discrepancy can be explained if we connect the existence of the early medieval hospital network
to the vitality of the monastery itself and to its role as a landed possessor. Early medieval xenodochia played an essential role in organizing the territory pertaining to the monastery, and were a fundamental stronghold for the monastery of Saint Columbanus both in the administration of landed possessions and in the commercialization and distribution of agricultural products. It follows that most of the hospitals under Bobbio’s supervision became points of reference as centers of assistance not only for the pilgrims and other travelers, but also, and above all, for the local population.

[IT]
Le fondazioni assistenziali di Bobbio censite fra alto e basso medievo offrono un ottimo esempio di come e perché potesse nascere una rete ospedaliera, di quali fossero la sua estensione e capacità di aderenza al territorio, e infine delle sue possibilità di durata. Il contributo analizza le funzioni che gli ospedali dipendenti dal monastero e dalla diocesi di Bobbio svolsero nel corso dei secoli alto e basso medievali. Una puntuale verifica delle fonti mette in risalto tre aspetti fondamentali: anzitutto che la rete ospedaliera di Bobbio presenta elementi, qualitativi e quantitivi, di maggiore interesse per lo storico in relazione ai secoli alto medievali piuttosto che a quelli basso medievali, in netta controtendenza con la generale esplosione delle pratiche della carità attuate dai laici religiosamente orientati a partire dal XII secolo in poi. Questa discrepanza è spiegabile se si collega l’esistenza della rete ospedaliera altomedievale alla vitalità del monastero stesso e al suo ruolo di possessore e signore fondiario. Infatti, gli xenodochi alto medievali svolsero un ruolo fondamentale nell’organizzazione del territorio monastico, rappresentando un fondamentale presidio per il monastero di San Colombano nella gestione dei possessi fondiari e nello smercio e distribuzione dei prodotti agricoli. Ne consegue che la maggior parte degli enti ospedalieri facenti capo a Bobbio si proponeva come punto di riferimento assistenziale non solo per i pellegrini e gli altri utenti della strade, quanto e soprattutto per le popolazioni locali.

The study focuses on the Annunziate in the Kingdom of Naples, one of the
hospital models that circulated in the late medieval Mediterranean. They were hospitals, charitable and educational institutions, founded in the early
fourteenth century and managed by lay citizens. They guaranteed all social
classes of the kingdom the access to the main welfare services. Between the late Middle Ages and early modern period they became widespread in many cities and villages of the kingdom. Thanks to these charitable institutions a civic consciousness and social identity in the peripheral areas of the kingdom was created.

The present article examines welfare institutions and charitable activity in the Greek areas under Latin rule, and in particular in the Aegean region, during the later middle ages (13th-15th c.), focusing on the foundation of hospitals and other charitable institutions for the poor and the needy. The study addresses such issues as the geography of hospital expansion, the character and administration of the foundations, the founders’ identity and social background as well as their motives and objectives; at the same time it attempts to contextualize local phenomena within broader developments in Western Europe, in order to help us to understand the complex interplay of factors that influenced the nature and growth of charitable institutions and practices in this area.

Este volumen misceláneo recoge veintidós rigurosas investigaciones inéditas que aportan enfoques novedosos y reflexiones sugestivas que contribuyen a replantear el uso –y a menudo abuso– del término «redes» aplicado a la historia hospitalaria. Desde múltiples puntos de vista, sin restricciones temporales ni geográficas, se ha puesto especial hincapié en el análisis sociológico y económico de las instituciones, profesionales y sujetos de la asistencia. Una serie de contribuciones que constituyen un paso adelante y que revela el interés creciente en los últimos años por los hospitales y la salud en el pasado, así como la consolidación de una red investigadora internacional en la Europa meridional dedicada a su estudio.

«Lisbon’s Assistance Network before All Saints Hospital» in André TEIXEIRA; Edite Martins ALBERTO e Rodrigo Banha da SILVA, coord. cient. All Saints Royal Hospital: Lisbon and Public Health, Lisboa, Câmara Municipal de Lisboa – Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, 2021, p. 263-280.

Urban archaeology in the city of Maastricht is mainly concentrated on two sites, not coincidentally surrounding the two medieval main churches, the Church of Our Lady and the Church of Saint Servatius. In this contribution all observations and surveys are listed, starting with the first medieval quests for the relics of Saint Servatius. From there, the possible discoveries of the so-called 'Wall of Giselbert' (10th century), The 'Palace'(Palts) of the Duke (10th/11th century) and the underestimated importance of the two medieval hospitals in one corner of the Vrijthof square are drwawn into attention.
[in 2017 this article was followed by an english version, see my publication list]

Although the contextual differences, the processes that lead to the construction of general hospitals in Mediterranean cities were very similar. That is why the volume from the Arxiu Capitular de Lleida, which shows the works that ended with the union of Lleida's hospitals, is a representative example for the Crown of Aragon. In this article we present the study of that paperwork leaded by the bishop García Aznárez de Añón to achive the hospitals' union