The Mediæval Hospitals of England by Rotha Mary Clay

“the crafte off maryners is so auenturous that dayly beyng in ther uiages ben sore vexed, trobled and deseased and [p089] distried, the which by gode menys of the prayers and gode werkes might be graciously comforted and better releced of such trobles,” they wished to found a fraternity to support, within the old hospital of St. Bartholomew (Fig. 13), a priest and twelve poor seamen who should pray for those labouring on the sea, or passing to and fro into their port. [Illustration: 13. ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S HOSPITAL, BRISTOL (Called in 1387 _the Domus Dei by Frome Bridge_)] An earnest desire to make the world better is shown in one foundation deed, dating probably from the middle of the fourteenth century. It concerns Holy Trinity, Salisbury, erected by Agnes Bottenham on a spot where a [p090] house of evil repute had existed “to the great perils of souls”:— “The founders, by means of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, have ordained thirty beds to the sustentation of the poor and infirm daily resorting thither, and the seven works of charity are there fulfilled. The hungry are fed, the thirsty have drink, the naked are clothed, the sick are comforted, the dead are buried, the mad are kept safe until they are restored to reason, orphans and widows are nourished, lying-in women are cared for until they are delivered, recovered and churched.” The aim of pious benefactors was indeed the abiding welfare of their bedemen. The hard-headed, warm-hearted business men of Croydon and Stamford, no less than the ladies of Heytesbury and Ewelme, expressed a hope that the _Domus Dei_ on earth might be a preparation for the eternal House of God. In the words of the patrons of Ewelme, they desired the poor men so to live:— “that aftyr the state of this dedely [mortal] lyf they mowe come and inhabit the howse of the kyngdome of heven, the which with oure Lordes mouth is promysed to all men the which bene pore in spirit. So be yt.” FOOTNOTES: [57] Camden Soc., 1838, pp. 82, 85. [58] Rolls of Parl. 1 Henry IV, vol. iii. 421. [59] T. Brewer, _Carpenter’s Life_, p. 26. [60] Bridges’ _History_, I, 146, [61] F. Peck’s _Annals of Stanford_, v. 15. [p091]