Main description:

Medieval Healthcare and the Rise of Charitable Institutions: The History of the Municipal Hospital examines the development of medieval institutions of care, beginning with a survey of the earliest known hospitals in ancient times to the classical period, to the early Middle Ages, and finally to the explosion of hospitals in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. For Western Christian medieval societies, institutional charity was a necessity set forth by the religion's dictums-care for the needy and sick was a tenant of the faith, leading to a unique partnership between Christianity and institutional care that would expand into the fledging hospitals of the early Modern period. In this study, the hospital of Saint John in Brussels serves as an example of the developments. The institution followed the pattern of the establishment of medieval charitable institutions in the high Middle Ages, but diverged to become an archetype for later Christian hospitals.

Contents:

CHAPTER I: Introduction

Part I: The History of the Hospital

Chapter II: The Hospital in History, c. 3500 BCE-c. 500 CE

Chapter III: Early Medieval Charitable Institutions and hospitals, c. 500-1000 CE

Chapter IV: High Medieval Charitable Institutions and

Hospitals, c. 1000-1300 CE

Part II: Case Study of the Hospital of Saint John

Chapter V: The Creation of the Hospital of Saint John

Chapter VI: On Bishops, Popes, Councils, and Statutes

Part III: The Birth of The Municipal Hospital

Chapter VII: The Rise of Brussels' municipal hospital

chapter viii: Conclusion