St Giles's, Norwich, c. 1249-1550

The medieval English hospital held a mirror to society, reflecting its preoccupations and anxieties, not only about charity and health in this world, but salvation in the next. Using a combination of contemporary documentary and architectural evidence, this text presents an in-depth assessment of one specific institution - St Gile's Hospital, Norwich - and sets it firmly in its historical context. Using this medieval archive, the author aims to answer questions of social and economic change, the response to heresy, the importance of political patronage and the impact of the Reformation, and presents a case study of hospital life in the late Middle Ages. This study has been published to coincide with the 750th anniversary of St Giles.

Medicine for the soul; the precinct; estates and finances; the hospital church; politics and patronage; paupers and provisions; the dissolution; Goddes Howse. Appendix: the statues of St Gile's hospital; major acquisitions of property by St Gile's hospital, 1251-1512; masters of St Gile's hospital, 1249-1546.