¶ Forsoth they that be at suche myschefe That for theyr lyuyng can do no labour And haue no frendes to do them socour As old people seke and impotent Poore women in chyldbed haue here easement Weyke men sore wounded by great vyolence And sore men eaten with pockes and pestylence And honest folke fallen in great pouerte By mischaunce or other infyrmyte Way faryng men and maymed souldyours Haue theyr relyef in this poore hous of ours And all other which we seme good and playne Haue here lodgyng for a nyght or twayne Bedred folke, and suche as can not craue In these places moost relyef they haue And yf they hap within our place to dye Than are they buryed well and honestly But not euery unseke stoborne knaue For than we shold ouer many haue. FOOTNOTES: [1] Nearly 800 are set down in the appended list, but some are uncertain. [2] From _The hye way to the Spyttell hous_ (circa 1536), in which Robert Copland speaks with the Porter of a London hospital, probably St. Bartholomew’s. [p001] MEDIÆVAL HOSPITALS OF ENGLAND PART ONE CHAPTER I HOSPITALS FOR WAYFARERS AND THE SICK “_Founded for the maintenance of poor pilgrims and other infirm persons resorting thither to remain until they are healed of their infirmities._” “_For the poor, for persons going to Rome, for others coming to Canterbury and needing shelter, and for lying-in women._” (St. Thomas’, Canterbury.) [Illustration: 1. ST. JOHN’S HOSPITAL, OXFORD] The earliest charitable institutions of England were houses of hospitality. In sketching the development of these guest-houses we must bear in mind that the hospital (derived from _hospes_, a host or guest) was a wayside shelter for all comers. FIRST PERIOD (_circa_ 925–1170) Travellers were exposed to peril by the rudeness of the times, but in those early days hospitality was regarded as a solemn obligation. To receive any stranger was a [p002] duty: to welcome the passing pilgrim was a sacred privilege. Although the private entertainment of guests was widely practised, some public institutions were required. Tradition tells of at least two “hospitals” or hospices founded in the tenth century (925–940). Both were in Yorkshire,[3] one being in the distant country parts, the other in the populous town. At Flixton in Holderness was a house of refuge “to preserve travellers from being devoured by the wolves and other voracious forest beasts.”[4] The city of York, on the other hand, was so great a place of thoroughfare that it was impossible to entertain all who came. Athelstan, recognizing that the Canons of the Minster were men of holy life, active in helping the needy who flocked to them, assisted them in their hospitality by the foundation of St. Peter’s hospital.