Medieval Hospitals

Hospitals in medieval times were not really hospitals in the modern sense of the word. While some offered minor medical care, they were primarily created to offer food and shelter to travelers (“hospital” is derived from the Latin word hospes, which means guest or foreigner). Religious entities were the primary sponsors of
these facilities. A Christian organization, the Knights Hospitaller (later known as the Knights of Malta), established many hospitals during the 12th century in areas through which people traveled on the Crusades so that soldiers and pilgrims would have a place to rest and get food. Over time, the Knights of Malta began to expand its offerings, establishing facilities elsewhere in Europe.

Almost half of the hospitals in medieval Europe were connected with monasteries, priories, or churches. These facilities generally started out as infirmaries for the care of monks and nuns, but eventually they broadened to offer aid to anyone who needed it,
with monks and lay helpers providing a basic level of health care, regular meals, and rest,as well as spiritual
guidance. Few hospitals had physicians though a motivated cleric might have studied some treatments
described in texts in the hospital library. A February 1992 article from the Journalof Public Health quotes from an account of life at the Hôtel-Dieu in  Paris: “Nurses arose at5:00 a.m., attended chapel prayers after ablutions,and then beganwork on the wards.Their duties includedusing a single portable basin to wash the hands and faces of all patients, dispensing liquids, comforting the sick, making beds, and
serving meals twice daily. Sisters on night duty reported at 7:00
p.m. It was their task, in an era before the bedpan, to conduct the
ill to a communal privy, for which purpose the hospital provided
a cloak and slippers for every two patients.”
The facilities that were paid for by charitable donations (alms)
were sometimes referred to as almshouses (a term for poorhouse
today). In return for food and shelter, people who stayed there
were expected to pray for the souls of the donors.
The medieval hospitals of the day generally turned away people
with infectious diseases. The standard care consisted of relatively
clean surroundings and nourishing food, with an occasional dose
of something from the apothecary. Hospitals were not used as
teaching facilities in the Middle Ages, although there are a few
mentions of surgeons offering instruction in a hospital setting. Some hospitals that began as small additions to monasteries became major institutions by the 12th century. Two hospitals in
London that became well known were St. Bartholomew’s and St.
Thomas’s. In Italy, Milan had about a dozen hospitals, and by 1400
Florence had more than 30 hospitals, the largest of which was Santa
Maria Nuova. By 1500, this hospital had a staff of 10 doctors, a
pharmacist, and several female surgeons attached to it. Over time,
the hospital movement spread throughout Europe. Every city in
Germany with a population of more than 5,000 had a hospital, and
the Norman invasion of England also brought the movement there.
Sizes of these facilities varied. Some accommodated only 10 to 50 .


Medieval healers ranged from folk healers who may have been
quite good at their work to university-trained physicians whose
education was based on Galen and Hippocrates, with few improvements
since the origins of these men’s theories. Understanding of
anatomy was inaccurate, and while medieval practitioners were
somewhat successful at divining helpful herbal cures, the medications
and the dosages were all developed through trial and error.
It would have been a dangerous time to be a patient.
Hospitals began as places offering food and rest for travelers.
Most were attached to or run by a religious organization, and over
time, these facilities began to offer some basic medical care.