Full transcript
Introduction
0:01are you sick of hospital waiting times
0:03in the modern day
0:04well we can't help with that we're just
0:07a youtube channel however we can make
0:09things seem a little less grim in
0:11today's episode we're going to be
0:13looking at hospitals and healthcare in
0:14the middle ages welcome to medieval
0:17madness
0:29the medievals had three types of
0:31hospitals the first known as the
0:33leprosaria for those afflicted with
0:36leprosy the second were those erected
0:38for the general use of pilgrims and sick
0:40travelers and the third were intended to
0:43give shelter to the elderly a lot were a
0:46mixture of the three types and all were
0:48used to look after the needs of the poor
0:50where the inmates would receive care and
0:52possibly some rudimentary forms of
0:54treatment
0:55only the rich would have been able to
0:57afford the expertise of a trained
0:58physician or surgeon and they would have
1:00been treated in their own homes poor
1:03sick people would have used the skills
1:04of local healers and herbalists as well
1:06as the domestic cures passed on to them
1:08from female relatives in england over
1:11700 hospitals were established in the
1:13500 years between the norman conquest
1:16and the middle of the 16th century
1:18many dominated the landscape and were
1:20built with a lot of care and a
1:22considerable amount of investment
1:24one of the largest in the north of
1:26england was saint leonard's hospital in
1:28york as is the case with most of these
1:31once imposing medieval buildings sadly
1:34saint leonard's is now just a ruin as
1:36most of these large hospitals were
1:38indistinguishable from monasteries
1:40having their own chapels they became
1:42victims of the reformation and were
1:44destroyed subsequently this left york
1:47without a hospital from the time of
1:48henry viii until the middle of the 18th
1:51century at the height of its power saint
1:54leonards had 200 beds giving it a
1:56capacity for 400 inmates beds were
1:59shared by patients of the same gender
2:01and it also served as a children's home
2:03housing 23 boys
2:05there was a whole army of staff that
2:07helped to run the hospital including
2:09bakers brewers and cooks as well as 16
2:12servants
The Healing Power of Prayer
2:18the healing power of prayer
2:22took dominance over everything else in
2:24the middle ages and because of this the
2:26appearance and purpose of a medieval
2:28hospital was very different from what we
2:30expect today
2:32from the year 1215 admission to any
2:34hospital was not allowed unless the
2:36patient had first confessed all of their
2:38sins
2:39sin was thought to cause disease so the
2:42medievals thought there was no point in
2:44trying to treat any physical symptoms
2:45until the soul had been cleansed the
2:48health of the soul took priority over
2:50that of the body and prayer for recovery
2:52was as important as any other treatment
2:55the benefactors who had paid for the
2:57building of the house also had to be
2:58prayed for every day
3:00each patient at the saint andrews
3:02hospital in canterbury had to recite 300
3:05ave marias credos and peyton nostras
3:08daily to save their patrons souls
3:11anne of bohemia the wife of king richard
3:14ii even had her coat of arms embossed on
3:16the ceiling of the great hospital in
3:18norwich so that just in case they forgot
3:21as they rested there and looked up each
3:24patient would remember who it was that
3:26had paid for the bed they were lying in
3:28so in essence hospitals were a religious
3:31building built in the shape of a cross
3:33there would be an altar in each wing
3:34that way the patients could see the
3:36celebration of mass at all times
3:39and many were decorated with rich
3:40christian imagery so that the sick could
3:42meditate and cleanse their souls
3:45music also played an important part in
3:47the medieval healing process
3:49at the hospital of saint giles in
3:51norwich sung masses and other prayers
3:54were performed throughout the day
3:56physicians studied music as part of
3:57their training and it was thought to
3:59regulate the heart rate and lift the
4:01mood
4:02the ceilings of these institutions were
4:04designed to be lofty as disease was
4:06thought to spread by noxious air known
4:08as miasma the idea was to keep the wards
4:11free from dirt and smells as much as
4:12possible to avoid any airborne odors
4:14that could corrupt the atmosphere many
4:17hospitals also had piped water supplies
4:19for the regular washing of laundry and
4:21efficient drainage systems to dispose of
4:23waste
4:26[Music]
Doctors and Nurses
4:28doctors and nurses
4:31in english infirmaries patients would
4:33have been looked after by female nurses
4:35rather than a doctor the nurses would
4:38have been mature women this was so that
4:40the nurses would have garnered a
4:41considerable amount of experience in all
4:43aspects of the management of a hospital
4:46such as cooking housekeeping and laundry
4:49work their maturity was also expected to
4:51be a barrier for any sexual shenanigans
4:54and scandal with the male patients
4:56unlike the rest of europe the english
4:58hospitals of the middle ages did not
5:00employ the services of any trained
5:02surgeons physicians or apothecaries in
5:05contrast by the 14th century one of the
5:07most famous infirmaries in europe the
5:09santa maria nova in florence had an
5:12impressive staff
5:13there were three junior housemen in
5:15residence six senior physicians who
5:18visited the hospital daily several
5:20surgeons a pharmacist and an ophthalmic
5:23specialist
5:24the junior housemen were obliged to
5:26train there for a period before they
5:28became fully qualified many town
5:30councils in europe actually paid medical
5:32staff to work in hospitals it wasn't
5:35until the hospital of the savoy was
5:36founded in london by henry vii that an
5:39english institution finally got a doctor
5:42and a surgeon but this wasn't until the
5:44beginning of the 16th century
Leprosaria
5:51leprosaria
5:53most leper houses were established on
5:55the outskirts of towns outside of the
5:58city walls
5:59not because the lepers needed to be
6:01segregated but because the routes in and
6:03out of the cities were busier and
6:05therefore better places for the lepers
6:07to beg
6:08leper houses were some of the earliest
6:09hospitals most being built between the
6:1111th and 13th centuries making up about
6:14a quarter of all institutions in england
6:17many were mixed with a combination of
6:19lepers and the elderly at the hospital
6:22of buckland by dover in southern england
6:24lepers had to take an oath before they
6:26were admitted and discipline was strict
6:28patients had to promise to be quote
6:31faithful and useful sober and chest of
6:34body
6:35by the 11th century leprosy was endemic
6:38in england
6:40leprosy known today as hansen's disease
6:42is a chronic illness in the later stages
6:45it can cause a loss of the extremities
6:48blindness collapse of the nose gangrene
6:51skin lesions ulcers and a weakening of
6:54the skeleton
6:56many believed that the pain and anguish
6:57of lepers were similar to that of the
7:00suffering of christ lepers were
7:02experiencing their purgatory here on
7:04earth meaning that they would ascend
7:05directly to heaven this meant that they
7:08were closer to god than others and that
7:10their carers and benefactors would also
7:12hasten their journey to heaven by
7:13lessening their own time in purgatory
7:15the spiritual health of these patients
7:17was a priority and emphasis was given to
7:20comforting sermons that likened their
7:22suffering to christ hopefully meaning
7:25that the lepers would remain humble and
7:27accept their fate with humility
7:30sherburne hospital in durham in the
7:32north of england was founded near the
7:34end of the 12th century as a lazar house
7:37it was built to house 65 poor lapros
7:40nuns and monks and was run by three
7:43priests and a master the patients were
7:45kept clean and were given fresh
7:47nourishing food each received a loaf of
7:50bread and a gallon of beer daily they
7:52were given meat three times a week and
7:55on the days when meat was prohibited
7:57they were offered eggs cheese and
7:59vegetables those who were suffering from
8:02nasal and sinus damage were given an
8:04appropriate diet once a week two women
8:07washed the patients heads and bodies
8:09linen undergarments were provided for
8:11those with ulcerated skin and special
8:14footwear was given to those who had
8:15damaged feet clothing was washed once a
8:18week and utensils were washed daily
8:20initially the patient might be
8:22relatively mobile and able to take part
8:24in light occupations such as gardening
8:26work or looking after livestock
8:28inevitably though the sufferer would
8:30eventually need full-time care as their
8:32condition deteriorated
8:34but as with buckland and even though the
8:37inmates were suffering from a horrific
8:38illness discipline was still quite high
8:42anyone caught being disobedient was
8:44first subjected to corporal punishment
8:46with a rod before being given a diet of
8:48bread and water
8:50if all else failed they were expelled
8:52from the community nevertheless spaces
8:55out of these leprosariums were at a
8:57premium lepers weren't forced to go
8:59there they wanted to and places were
9:02sought after
9:03king edward ii asked the bishop that
9:06joan the widow of john chamber be
9:08admitted to sherburne as a personal
9:10favor to himself
9:12chamber had served the king well against
9:14the scots
The General Hospital
9:20the general hospital
9:23these institutions housed a huge variety
9:26of patients usually for short periods of
9:28time
9:29yes some were dying or had critical
9:31illnesses meaning they were too ill to
9:33beg but many more were just malnourished
9:36or exhausted and needed a bed overnight
9:38and a decent meal
9:40many were transient travelers and
9:41pilgrims
9:43in the summer months the roads were
9:44packed with people needing somewhere to
9:46rest
9:47other hospitals took in orphaned
9:49children and pregnant women such as the
9:51priory of saint mary's spital which grew
9:53to be the largest in medieval london
9:56founded by the merchants and run by
9:58augustinian monks saint mary's spital
10:00took on a special responsibility for
10:03poor pregnant women for their lying in
10:05period both before and after delivery
10:08accommodation was provided for them away
10:10from the main infirmary provision was
10:13also made for the upkeep of any children
10:15born there until the age of seven if
10:16their mother died in childbirth which
10:19was quite common in 15th century
10:22florence one in five women died whilst
10:24giving birth unable to look after them
10:26their selves unmarried women often
10:28abandoned babies at hospitals the santa
10:31maria delle scala in florence had a
10:34turning box set into the wall so that
10:36women could anonymously leave their
10:38babies wet nurses resided in the
10:41hospital to feed the infants of these
10:43baby deposit boxes
The Care Home
10:49the care home
10:52economically the black death left the
10:54general population of england with a
10:56much better standard of living if you'd
10:58like some more information on this we
11:00have just released a documentary on the
11:02black death on this channel as a
11:04consequence of this better standard of
11:05living those who had survived the
11:07pandemic lived for much longer but at
11:10the same time many of the children of
11:12these aging survivors had died and there
11:14was no longer anyone to look after them
11:17the answer in the late medieval period
11:19was to house the infirm disabled and
11:21elderly in the middle ages equivalent of
11:23sheltered accommodation
11:25there both their social and spiritual
11:28needs could be catered for in a place
11:29that attended to the patient's warmth
11:32diet cleanliness and spiritual serenity
11:36the medievals were in fact quite forward
11:38thinking in their view that improving
11:40anxiety and mental health would improve
11:42many types of illness taking this
11:44holistic approach they were following
11:46the ideas of the ancient greeks and
11:48revising them to suit their christian
11:50beliefs
11:51the standards of care in medieval
11:53hospitals were mixed and differed from
11:55place to place
11:56many had a mixture of inmates and had to
11:58adapt over time as they responded to the
12:00changes in social needs over the period
12:03in a time before antibiotics vaccines
12:06and anesthetics the main purpose of the
12:09medieval hospital was to look after the
12:10poor the sick and the old
12:13for the last days of a medieval whose
12:16greatest wish was to die in the church
12:18hospitals helped them to die well
12:20it was less about curing and more about
12:23caring
12:25thank you so much for watching this
12:27episode of medieval madness do you hope
12:29you've learned a few things and we'll be
12:30back next week for another episode if
12:32you'd like to subscribe
12:34cheers