The role of the hospital in medieval Kent, c.1080-c.1560

This thesis examines the social history of the medieval hospital in Kent by investigating its role and place within provincial society. The method used was an analysis of the hospital's participation in the systems of exchange and reciprocity involved in the spiritual economy to assess its relative importance as a charitable and religious institution. Chapter 1 provided a context for the study, including a chronology of the hospitals in Kent from the Conquest to the Reformation and thematic section on function, organisation, resources and inmates for the same period using evidence from Kent's hospitals. The seventh section of this chapter comprised a summary of the value of the use of the concept of reciprocalexchange and its application to four hospital models (based on function) over time through an investigation of four types of reciprocal exchange: foundation grants, in vitam grants, testamentary bequests, casual alms. Also explored in brief were the range of participants in the spiritual economy and certain aspects relating to the relationship between various hospitals in Kent and their patrons and benefactors through the use of three chronological sections: early thirteenth century, mid fourteenth century, late medieval period (c.1470-c.1530). The last two chapters are case studies of the hospitals in the two Cinq Ports of Sandwich and Dover so providing a detailed, systematic analysis of the roles of the various hospitals there through their involvement and that of others, both inside and outside the town, in reciprocal exchange. From these findings it is suggested that the hospital in Kent was a minor participant in the spiritual economy, but that its role therein was likely to be multifarious, though probably changeable over time. In addition for certain hospitals their political, economic and/or social rules provided them with a degree of relevance for the local townspeople, and at times this was also valid in terms of the region and the nation.