The Mediæval Hospitals of England by Rotha Mary Clay
Chapter 1
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Title: The Mediæval Hospitals of England
Author: Rotha Mary Clay
Author of introduction, etc.: G. F. Browne
Editor: J. Charles Cox
Release date: November 19, 2015 [eBook #50501]
Most recently updated: October 22, 2024
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MEDIÆVAL HOSPITALS OF ENGLAND ***
THE MEDIÆVAL HOSPITALS OF ENGLAND,
BY ROTHA MARY CLAY;
A PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK.
THE ANTIQUARY’S BOOKS
GENERAL EDITOR: J. CHARLES COX, LL.D., F.S.A.
THE MEDIÆVAL HOSPITALS OF ENGLAND
[Illustration: _THE SOUTH-EAST VIEW OF THE HOSPITAL OR
MAISON-DIEU AT DOVER._
ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL, DOVER]
THE
MEDIÆVAL HOSPITALS
OF ENGLAND
BY
ROTHA MARY CLAY
WITH A PREFACE BY
THE LORD BISHOP OF BRISTOL
WITH 78 ILLUSTRATIONS
METHUEN & CO.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
_First Published in 1909_
DEDICATED TO
FRANCES ARNOLD-FORSTER
WITH GRATEFUL AFFECTION
PREFACE
When the able author of this book asked me to write a Preface to a work
on Hospitals, I replied that I must first see the sheets in proof.
This was not due to any doubt of the ability of the writer, it was
due to some doubt as to the adequacy of the material at her disposal.
This doubt has been much more than removed. The mass of the material
collected is remarkable. Still more remarkable is the evidence of the
very large part played by Hospitals—in the widest senses of the word—in
the social life of the people of this land in the earlier Middle Ages.
For the fuller understanding of the social life of our ancestors, this
book contributes information of the most luminous character. It will
serve also as an example and pattern for young and earnest students
of real history, the history of ordinary human beings rather than of
generals and of kings. And it must be added that, although the division
into numerous headings leads to frequent repetitions of the names and
characters of institutions of the nature of Hospitals, it has the
great advantage of reducing to order a mass of material which might
under less careful treatment have had a chaotic appearance. As a book
of reference for readers and writers, this treatise on the Mediæval
Hospitals of England ought to hold a distinguished place.
G. F. BRISTOL
_July, 1909._
CONTENTS
Preface by the Lord Bishop of Bristol . . . vii
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