Old St John's Hospital opened in the 13th century and was administered by the city of Brugge as a city hospital. In 1459 the hospital, despite numerous sources of revenue, was running major red tape because of a few too many wars and plagues. So the city accepted the bailout of the catholic church. Hospital workers were now required to wear habits and to take vows of poverty and chastity and to live in the upstairs. A great boon to the bottom line.
The large open ward looked a lot like modern cubes with boxes for each patient. Patients were segregated by male, female, and dying. You went from your cube in the dying section to a section outside. This painting was a depiction of the wards.
Transportation in and around the hospital (at least while you were alive) was by sedan chair.
In the chapel William was quite fascinated by the reliquary of Saint Ursula which pictured her martyrdom. She was a Breton princess who was scheduled to marry the King of England (around the 5th century). She asked for three years off prior to the wedding to visit the Pope with 11,000 virgins, who were recent converts to Christianity. The visit was such a great success that the Pope traveled with them on the return voyage. They got as far as Cologne. The dreaded Huns had just conquered Cologne. They killed the Pope and the maidens and when Ursula would not marry the chief Hun, they killed her too. Drat that Attila.
The now closed hospital houses many of the great works of Hans Memling. The audioguide is indispensable.
The large open ward looked a lot like modern cubes with boxes for each patient. Patients were segregated by male, female, and dying. You went from your cube in the dying section to a section outside. This painting was a depiction of the wards.
Transportation in and around the hospital (at least while you were alive) was by sedan chair.
In the chapel William was quite fascinated by the reliquary of Saint Ursula which pictured her martyrdom. She was a Breton princess who was scheduled to marry the King of England (around the 5th century). She asked for three years off prior to the wedding to visit the Pope with 11,000 virgins, who were recent converts to Christianity. The visit was such a great success that the Pope traveled with them on the return voyage. They got as far as Cologne. The dreaded Huns had just conquered Cologne. They killed the Pope and the maidens and when Ursula would not marry the chief Hun, they killed her too. Drat that Attila.
The now closed hospital houses many of the great works of Hans Memling. The audioguide is indispensable.
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