Relics, Hospitals, and Health Care ca. 1500

Activity: Talk or presentation typesPublic lecture/debate/seminar

Description

Invited lecture

Dr. Rudy will speak about relics from the Holy Land and elsewhere that hospital sisters incorporated into large dioramas, ca. 1500, which were miniature models of a heavenly paradise. She argues that patients gave these relics in lieu of payment for healthcare in largely urban hospitals, mostly in Mechelen but elsewhere in northern Europe. The relics include fascinating items such as a piece of crystal labeled 'the water that froze permanently at the moment when Christ was born', and 'a bone from the chicken that cried three times before Peter denied Christ'.
Period26 Mar 2013
Held atUniversity of St Andrews