Full transcript
0:00[Music]
0:02hospitals in the medieval period were
0:04completely different to what we would
0:06expect a hospital to look like today
0:08there were no doctors or Physicians no
0:11trained nurses no medical cures offered
0:14and medieval hospitals even turned away
0:16people that were considered to be too
0:19ill people staying at this Hospital
0:21could expect to be fed simple but
0:23nutritious food be bathed and rest in
0:27fact the word Hospital comes from the
0:29Latin word hospice which means stranger
0:32or guest and hospitium which means
0:35shelter and
0:36Hospitality unlike today hospitals were
0:39not only a place to go when you were
0:41sick but were also a place where the
0:43poorest people in a community could take
0:45shelter if they found themselves
0:47homeless or where pilgrims and travelers
0:50could seek Refuge when they became weary
0:52on their Journeys by 1500 there are an
0:55estimated 1,100 hospitals across England
1:00the church played a significant role in
1:02medieval hospitals with around 30% of
1:05all the hospitals in the country being
1:07owned and run by monks and nuns these
1:10hospitals also known as bead houses took
1:13the form of one large room with an altar
1:16in the center that was visible to all
1:18the patients or
1:20beadsman the beadsman were fed
1:22nutritious food bathed and their bed
1:24linen changed regularly by the nuns
1:27regular prayers were conducted asking
1:29God for the recovery of the unwell
1:31beadsman as well as often saying prayers
1:34for the soul of the wealthy person or
1:36donor that had made the building of that
1:38hospital possible through an endowment
1:41while no medical treatment was actually
1:43given to the patients the fact that the
1:45patients were able to rest eat
1:47nutritious food and keep clean may have
1:50aided the recovery of those with more
1:52minor
1:53illnesses medieval hospitals did not
1:56admit everyone in fact anyone with a
1:59visible disease that was known to be
2:01contagious such as leprosy or small boox
2:04would have been turned away and instead
2:06sent to a lazer or pest house the
2:09purpose of the lazer or pest houses was
2:11not to treat the patients inside but
2:14instead to keep them separate from the
2:16rest of the population in an attempt to
2:18stop the spread of the contagious
2:20disease they would grow their own food
2:23on site and were trade with people in
2:25the local Village to access their basic
2:27supplies when venturing off sight lepers
2:31had to wear a long cloak and ring a bell
2:33or shout unclean in order to warn others
2:36not to get too close to them these
2:38people would spend the rest of their
2:40lives at the lazer or pest house and
2:42would be buried at the accompanying
2:44burial ground when they
2:46died key learning a medieval hospital
2:50was not a place to receive medical
2:53treatment those with minor illnesses the
2:56poor elderly and travelers could expect
2:58to be cared for and given food shelter
3:01and an opportunity to
3:03bathe Lazer or pest houses were
3:06established for those with Leprosy and
3:08small pox in order to keep them
3:10segregated from the rest of the
3:12population