Leprosy in England
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
I used to travel to Canterbury occasionally when I lived in Kent. I was always intrigued by the sight of the Leper Hospital in Harbledown, just outside the city.
St Nicholas’ Hospital is on the old main London road, which was once England’s chief pilgrimage route. Chaucer’s fictional pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales (written between 1387-1340) would have journeyed along this road, as would other travellers. Leper hospitals were located on main roads in order that inmates could beg for alms from passers-by, in exchange offering prayers for their souls.
St Nicholas’ Hospital was founded by Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury in 1084-5, not long after the Norman Conquest in 1066. It is thought to be England’s first Leper Hospital.
Today leprosy is known as Hansen’s Disease. It is a chronic infectious disease, caused by a bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae, and affects the skin, peripheral nerves, the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth and the eyes. It is transmitted through prolonged contact over months with a sufferer but is easily treated and cured with multi-drug treatment that lasts between six and twelve months. It cannot be spread through casual contact, for example, by shaking hands or having a meal with someone.
It still occurs in over 120 countries, but the majority of new cases recorded annually are from South-East Asia.
It emerged in England in the 4th century AD, possibly brought in by Viking traders, and was a commonplace feature of life by 1050. It affected people of all walks of life in town and country. People understood that it was contagious but did not know how it was contracted so sufferers were shunned from society. They had to wear distinctive clothing and carry a bell or clapper to announce their approach. (In Biblical times, lepers had to cover their mouth and call out ‘unclean, unclean’.)
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In mediaeval England, some saw the ravages of the disease as a punishment from God while others believed it was similar to the suffering of Christ and was a living Purgatory, and that the afflicted would go straight to Heaven. In its advanced stage, leprosy led to gangrene, blindness, collapse of the nose, muscle paralysis and general weakening of the skeleton.
In the leper or lazar hospitals lazars were treated respectfully. Those who looked after them - the monks and the Church - or made charitable donations towards their care thought that such good works would reduce their own time in Purgatory.
Most hospitals consisted of cottages built around a separate chapel, for the care of the lepers was spiritual as well as physical. Much attention was paid to good food and cleanliness and many establishments had gardens of flowers and herbs in which the inmates worked. Gradually, the incidence of leprosy abated, declining from the 15th century, perhaps due to increased immunity in the general population, and the leper hospitals became almshouses for the poor.
St Nicholas’ Hospital is now an almshouse, providing sheltered accommodation for elderly people.
It is a terrible disease and I'm glad a treatment and cure has been found. I remember seeing a movie a while ago and part of it featured the leper colony on one of the Hawaiian Islands, the lepers were taken there in boats and had to wade ashore with supplies being dropped off on a regular basis on the incoming tide, the lepers would have to wade in and grab the floating packages.
ReplyDeleteIt's horrible to realise the deplorable way the diseased and disabled were treated.
DeleteWhen I wrote about medieval hospitals in Islamic cities, I was surprised and delighted to note that their health services were based on scientific and evidence-based medicine! The first true hospitals were found in C9th Baghdad, with special departments for eye problems, internal medicine, orthopaedic complaints, mental illnesses and infectious diseases. But no mention of leprosy that I could find.
ReplyDeleteYou noted leprosy was a commonplace feature of English life by 1050! So that created a history of specialist services well worth examining.
Religious practices are often the foundation of hygiene. C9th Baghdad was clearly alert and observant. It's interesting that they recognised mental illness.
ReplyDeletei visited a hospital where lepers were treated in Nigeria, and the consequences of this terrible disease were horrifying. One doesn’t associate it with England - or at least I didn’t. Many of the comments I leave on your blog seem to be disappearing. I hope this one sticks!
ReplyDeleteOne day, perhaps, it will be completely eradicated.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what causes comments to vanish. It's most annoying. I check each day and sometimes find that some have been designated 'spam'. My comments on other logs disappear, too.
Intrigued as I am to learn of its history, what a horrific disease leprosy is. I'd no idea it now goes under the name of Hansen’s Disease and that it still occurs in no less than 120 countries, even if today it is treatable. xxx
ReplyDeleteWhile people still resist treatment or leave it too late and have passed it on, it will be a very long time before it is eradicated completely. x x
DeleteFascinating, thank you. xx
ReplyDeleteIt's a grim disease, to be sure. x x
ReplyDeleteThat's a horrible disease ! Not only they were slowly rotting away but on top they were excluded from the society. I was in Canterburry looong time ago (my son had still his ancient girlfriend, but lived already in London. We met in Canterburry, but of course such sad things we didn't see. I didn't know that either.
ReplyDeleteCanterbury is more heaving than bustling these days.
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