Evolution of the infirmary during the medieval; social, economic and religious status

Abstract

The infirmary as we know it nowadays does not exist during the Middle Ages, but the various precursors of the modern hospital evolved as a result of interactions between East and West. There is hardly any research that describes the influence of the Medieval social, economic and religious status in the West and East on the infirmary. The present work aims on the development of the infirmary at Medieval time or Middle age with a short insight to previous evolution. The research was conducted in different stages. Textbooks and lectures from the Department of History and Methodology of Science of the University of Athens (UoA) and other relevant departments of Greek universities were consulted. In order to collect relevant information, the keywords “infirmary”, “medical theory”, “ antiquity”, “medieval”, “hospital”, “West” and “Asklipieion” were searched on Google, PubMed and Wikipedia. The infirmaries in the East were not simple buildings but rather a complex of clinical, teaching/education and praying areas. These institutions formed a model to the later European infirmaries. Many of the physicians of the East were ahead of their times. It is obvious that during the Middle Ages religion is a keystone for the function of the infirmary. Both in the East as in the West Christianity and Islam provide the ethical base and funding for the function and the development of new hospitals. Despite the conflict between these two worlds, their societies interacted and influenced medicine and the infirmary as an institution. It is the result of a long process of development of the relations between people, societies or even religions and the way humanity perceive its nature and the future.