"Doctors in consultation around a sick person ..."
Stained Glass Canterbury Cathedral
14th century CE
The May 2024 Art In Medicine topic is about Medieval Hospitals.
Lucinda Bennett, the Medical Librarian at Ascension St Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, MD, publishes a regular series on Art in Medicine and The Health Humanities.
It's only 1-2 pages with gorgeous images, so it won't take you long to read ... and just might enrich your life.
Modern hospitals can trace their ancestry deep into history.
Across time and place, having a location to treat the sick and
injured was vital to a society. How that space was built,
reimagined and depicted in visual historiographies changes
from era and nation, but the hospital outlived regime changes
and upheaval. Today we examine the art and influence of the
European Medieval hospital. As part of the teachings of the
church, caring for those suffering illness or other health
issues was considered a sacred duty. Therefore, the Medieval
hospital was an offshoot from a cloister, cathedral or other
religious building. Sites of pilgrimage offered care for those
who had taken the long journey to even get there. [Above] is an image from Canterbury Cathedral, the destination of the
famous pilgrims described by Chaucer, which depicts doctors
at work. “Objects associated with the shrine of Saint Thomas
Becket attest to the importance of Canterbury as a pilgrimage
site where many sick people received miraculous cures.
Becket was described as “the best physician of virtuous sick
people” and the thirteenth-century windows at Canterbury
provide a vivid record of miraculous cures of blindness,
leprosy, drowning, madness, and the plague. At Canterbury, the saint’s blood was believed to be particularly beneficial—ampullae containing blood mixed with water were distributed at the shrine (2001.310). Canterbury seems to have been a particularly important pilgrimage destination for people suffering from bleeding disorders—perhaps because of the blood shed by Thomas at his martyrdom (17.190.520).” (The Met)
So, what could a Medieval patient expect when admitted into a hospital? Well, treatment
was entwined with religion, as was most of daily life in this period. In fact, the dormitories of the sick were often
modeled after the system of life associated with the clergy. “Hospitals frequently emulated monasteries. Patients
were occasionally required to follow the monastic rules and some hospitals admitted 12 male patients in an obvious
reference to 12 apostles. Even the hospital architecture was supposed to inspire religious devotion—the leading
European hospital, the Florentine Santa Maria della Nuova, had a cross-shaped ground-plan, with the long axis
serving as the male and the short as the female ward. The monastery-like hospital interior included frescoes with
Biblical motives and altars adorned with Christian iconography.” (Medicine & Society)
Meal times and exercise, usually walking through the monastery gardens, would be aligned with the schedules of the
monks who ran the hospital. In some instances the direction of walking would even correspond to a specific
direction, as did the layout of the church itself to follow the rising and setting of the sun. The cross shape of the
church and hospital, along the east-west axis, was a religious context. One would expect this would have some impact upon the patients and pilgrims within. Not only the sick would find solace in these accommodations though,
another institution has its roots in the Medieval hospital - the hostel. “These charitable institutions were sometimes
divided into two sections: one for the
poor and sick (the hospital), and one
for the travelers and pilgrims (the
hostel). Often, an almsgiving service
coexisted with the houses to distribute
food to the poor.” (Early Medieval
Hospital)
“Reception and Treatment of the Impoverished Sick in a Monastery Infirmary”
Manuscript Illustration
13th century C.E.
Visualizations of what went on in
these wards comes to us in both
stained glass windows and
illuminated manuscripts. Genre
painting, the subject being scenes
from ordinary life, was not yet
conceived. Therefore, only learned
people would see images such as the
scenes here. From these images we have a glimpse of the sick wards of Medieval Europe. “Archaeology has enormous potential to contribute to the history of medicine but care is needed in how we define the framework for analysis. Archaeological insight to the more academic, theoretical constructs of medieval medicine is likely
to be limited, but material sources provide new perspectives on the broader empirical tradition delivered by a
diverse range of practitioners – physicians (often monks and priests), surgeons, bone-setters, apothecaries,
herbalists, lay-sisters and midwives. As noted above, the archaeology of medieval healing focuses on the full
spectrum of healing technologies, from managing the body in order to prevent illness, through to the treatment of
the sick and the preparation of the corpse for burial.” (Spirit, Mind and Body) What differs in these establishments
from the modern equivalents is the scope of care, though varied it could be depending on the location and wealth of
the city where it was set. Curing disease might have been a goal, but the privately owned hospitals funded by the
nobility were more for respite and a place for warmth and food, according to “Three - Spirit, Mind and Body: The
Archaeology of Monastic Healing.” That same article goes on to emphasize how these independent hospitals
handled treatment, “Care in the infirmary was based around the concept of the liturgy and a healing regime
supported by the sacraments, holy relics, devotional imagery and sacred music.”
References:
The Met - Medicine in the Middle Ages
Three - Spirit, Mind and Body: The Archaeology of Monastic Healing
The Early Medieval Hospital
Medicine and Society in the Medieval Hospital
Reprinted with the generous permission of Ms. Bennett.
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