Gazzini, Marina (2015) La rete ospedaliera di Bobbio fra alto e basso medioevo. In: La diocesi di Bobbio. Formazione e sviluppi di un’istituzione millenaria. Reti Medievali E-Book (23). Firenze University Press, Firenze, pp. 481-507. ISBN 978-88-6655-856-9
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Abstract
survey of Bobbio’s assistential foundations between the Early and the Late Middle Ages offers an excellent example of how and why a network of hospitals could develop, of the extension of such a network, coupled with the capacity to survive on the territory and finally of the extent to which such a setup could last. This paper analyses the functions which the hospitals depending from the monastery and the diocese of Bobbio exercised during the centuries spanning from the Early to the Late Middle Ages. An accurate analysis of the sources enables to highlight three fundamental aspects: first that from a quantitative and qualitative point of view, Bobbio’s network of hospitals presents characteristics which are of more interest to the scholar of the Early rather than Late Middle Ages. This aspect is in stark contrast to the radical increase in the practices of charity operated by the religiously-inspired lay from the 12th century onwards. This discrepancy can be explained if we connect the existence of the early medieval hospital network to the vitality of the monastery itself and to its role as a landed possessor. Early medieval xenodochia played an essential role in organizing the territory pertaining to the monastery, and were a fundamental stronghold for the monastery of Saint Columbanus both in the administration of landed possessions and in the commercialization and distribution of agricultural products. It follows that most of the hospitals under Bobbio’s supervision became points of reference as centers of assistance not only for the pilgrims and other travelers, but also, and above all, for the local population.
Item Type: | Book Section |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Middle Ages, Bobbio, Hospitals, Charity, Pilgrimage, Monastery, Territory |
Subjects: | D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D111 Medieval History |
Depositing User: | dr Vincenzo De Luise |
Date Deposited: | 27 Nov 2015 21:45 |
Last Modified: | 08 Oct 2024 03:40 |
URI: | http://www.rmoa.unina.it/id/eprint/3188 |
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