Life In A Medieval Hospital

From Studium Historiae

Medieval hospitals were in some ways similar to our modern ones, but in many ways very different. They were not just what we would today call hospitals; they were also churches, charities, retirement homes, schools, hostels, affordable housing, orphanages, hospices, almshouses, religious communities, and so much more. Living in one, whether as staff or as someone receiving care, would have been quite a different experience from anything you would experience in most hospitals today. Support me on Patreon:   / studiumhistoriae1215   Follow me on Instagram:   / studium.historiae   Sources and Recommendations for further reading:

• Barnhouse, Lucy C. Hospitals in Communities of the Late Medieval Rhineland (Routledge, 2025).
• Biller, Peter, and Joseph Ziegler, eds. Religion and Medicine in the Middle Ages (York Medieval Press, 2001).
• Bowers, Barbara S., ed. The Medieval Hospital and Medical Practice (Routledge, 2016).
• Brodman, James. Charity & Religion in Medieval Europe (Catholic University of America Press, 2009).
• Davis, Adam Jeffrey. The Medieval Economy of Salvation: Charity, Commerce, and the Rise of the Hospital (Cornell University Press, 2019).
• Rawcliffe, Carole. “Isolating the Medieval Leper: Ideas—and Misconceptions—about Segregation in the Middle Ages.” In Freedom of Movement in the Middle Ages: Proceedings of the 2003 Harlaxton Symposium, edited by Peregrine Horden (Shaun Tyas, 2007).
• Rawcliffe, Carole. Leprosy in Medieval England (The Boydell Press, 2006).
• Rice, Nicole R. The Medieval Hospital: Literary Culture and Community in England, 1350-1550 (University of Notre Dame Press, 2023).

Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 1:22 - Origins of the Medieval Hospital 6:36 - Later Hospitals 10:58 - Types of Hospitals 18:12 - Hospital Care 26:22 - Life and Discipline 28:57 - Founders, Finance and Support 31:46 - Conclusion