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TY - ELEC
A1 - Hubschman, Brenna
ED - Jenstad, Janelle
T1 - Christ’s Hospital
T2 - The Map of Early Modern London
PY - 2020
DA - 2020/06/26
CY - Victoria
PB - University of Victoria
LA - English
UR - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/CHRI2.htm
UR - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/xml/standalone/CHRI2.xml
ER -
RT Web Page
SR Electronic(1)
A1 Hubschman, Brenna
A6 Jenstad, Janelle
T1 Christ’s Hospital
T2 The Map of Early Modern London
WP 2020
FD 2020/06/26
RD 2020/06/26
PP Victoria
PB University of Victoria
LA English
OL English
LK https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/CHRI2.htm
The city of London, not to be confused with the allegorical character (
Originally built as a Roman fortification for the provincial city of Londinium in the second century C.E., the London Wall remained a material and spatial boundary for the city throughout the early modern period. Described by high and great
(Stow 1: 8), the London Wall dominated the cityscape and spatial imaginations of Londoners for centuries. Increasingly, the eighteen-foot high wall created a pressurized constraint on the growing city; the various gates functioned as relief valves where development spilled out to occupy spaces
A ditch to the north of Christ’s Hospital, filled in by
North out of Newgate, Stinking Lane runs parallel to both Pentecost Lane and Butchers’ Alley. Ekwall notes Stinking Lane as a euphemistic variant of Fowle Lane, while Stow notes Stinking Lane was also known as Chick Lane.
Bridewell, once palace, then prison, was an intriguing site in the early modern period. It changed hands several times before falling into the possession of the BrideWell
.
Although its name evokes the pandemonium of the archetypal madhouse, Bethlehem (Bethlem, Bedlam) Hospital was not always an asylum. As Priorie of Cannons with brethren and
sisters
, founded in one of the Sheriffes of London
(Stow 1: 164). We know from
Whitehall Palace, the Palace of Whitehall or simply Whitehall, was one
of the most complex and sizeable locations in the entirety of early modern Europe. As the primary place of residence for monarchs from
[i]t lay on the left bank of the Thames, and extended from nearly the point where Westminster Bdge. now crosses the river to
Scotland Yard, and from the river back to St. James’s Park
(Sugden 564-565).
Located in Farringdon Within Ward, Christ’s Hospital was a opened in
The Julian calendar, in use in the British Empire until September 1752. This calendar is used for dates where the date of the beginning of the year is ambigious.
The Julian calendar with the calendar year regularized to beginning on 1 January.
The Julian calendar with the calendar year beginning on 25 March. This was the calendar used in the British Empire until September 1752.
The Gregorian calendar, used in the British Empire from September 1752. Sometimes
referred to as
The Anno Mundi (year of the world
) calendar is based on the supposed date of the
creation of the world, which is calculated from Biblical sources. At least two different
creation dates are in common use. See Anno Mundi (Wikipedia).
Regnal dates are given as the number of years into the reign of a particular monarch.
Our practice is to tag such dates with
Research Assistant, 2018-present. Chris Horne was an honours student in the Department of English at the University of Victoria. His primary research interests included American modernism, affect studies, cultural studies, and digital humanities.
Assistant Project Manager, 2019-present. Research Assistant, 2018-present. Kate LeBere completed an honours degree in History with a minor in English at the University of Victoria in 2020. While her primary research focus was sixteenth and seventeenth century England, she also developed a keen interest in Old English and Early Middle English translation.
Programmer, 2018-present. Junior Programmer, 2015-2017. Research Assistant, 2014-2017. Joey Takeda was a graduate student at the University of British Columbia in the Department of English (Science and Technology research stream). He completed his BA honours in English (with a minor in Women’s Studies) at the University of Victoria in 2016. His primary research interests included diasporic and indigenous Canadian and American literature, critical theory, cultural studies, and the digital humanities.
Data Manager, 2015-2016. Research Assistant, 2013-2015. Tye completed his undergraduate honours degree in English at the University of Victoria in 2015.
Director of Pedagogy and Outreach, 2015–present. Associate Project Director, 2015–present. Assistant Project Director, 2013-2014. MoEML Research Fellow, 2013. Kim McLean-Fiander comes to
Janelle Jenstad is Associate Professor of English at the University of Victoria, Director of
Programmer at the University of Victoria Humanities Computing and Media Centre (HCMC). Martin ported the MOL project from its original PHP incarnation to a pure eXist database implementation in the fall of 2011. Since then, he has been lead programmer on the project and has also been responsible for maintaining the project schemas. He was a co-applicant on MoEML’s 2012 SSHRC Insight Grant.
Student contributor enrolled in
Actor with the
King of England and Ireland
Bishop of Rochester
King of England and Ireland
Playwright and poet.
Poet and playwright.
Playwright.
Historian and author of
Sheriff of London
Dramatic character in
Dramatic character in
Dramatic character in
Ward at Christ’s Hospital. Went on to matriculate at Cambridge University.
Dramatic character in
The
Founded by
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Located in the northwestern corner of London in the ward of Farringdon Within, Christ’s Hospital and Christ Church lay just north of Newgate Market and St. Nicholas Shambles and to the west of St. Martin’s Lane. To the north, the City Wall followed the Town Ditch, which remained an open sewer until it was covered in
At the time of the dissolution, both
In
Beginning with 380 children, Christ’s Hospital opened in upon great consideration
(Pearce 41). In
Ensuring that the children appeared well dressed to the public was crucial for Christ’s Hospital, because the leaders wanted to show Londoners that their donations were being put to good use (Manzione 37). Doing so could help bolster donations from sympathetic citizens on which the hospital depended. To ensure that they always looked tidy and well kept, the children would receive at least one new set of clothes a year at Easter (Manzione 37). The year Christ’s Hospital opened, russet,
but they soon after were only dressed in blue (Stow 1: 319). This resulted in the site being called the to avoid vermin by reason the white cotton is held to breed the same
(Pearce 187). The children’s coats were adorned with metal buttons displaying the head of
Because Christ’s Hospital was a charitable organization depending on the donations of citizens and others, there were many years where financial ruin loomed. However, in the early years, it was flooded with enthusiastic donations. For example, more than six thousand pounds were raised by the citizens for Christ’s Hospital and St. Thomas’s Hospital between the
Like its income, the hospital’s expenditures were equally complicated and changed drastically each year. The largest regular expenditure was the payment of the nursing staff, followed by the vague category of necessaries,
such as food, pensions, and clothing (Manzione 98). The necessaries,
including ink, rope, baskets, soap, and money paid to a physician (Manzione 104). It seems that this term was a catchall for any unexpected purchases for the hospital. Nearly half of the money spent on food went to the purchase of wheat and bread, with the remaining 52% going to meat, spirits, butter, cheese, milk, and fish (Manzione 102). Though seemingly unrelated to its purpose as a hospital for fatherless children, Christ’s Hospital was also responsible for giving allowances or pensions to groups of people like the elderly or disabled who were deemed prone to beggary. Six hundred decayed householders
were given a weekly pension by the hospital (Pearce 28). Pensions were the fourth largest expenditure of the hospital, payments averaging £248 a year and making up nearly 13% of the budget (Manzione 109).
Though Christ’s Hospital was known as a home for fatherless children, it offered more to its inhabitants than just meals and a bed; the hospital boasted a respected school. The schoolmasters at Christ’s Hospital were highly regarded and were considered extremely learned. Some pupils, referred to as day-boys,
were the children of citizens who attended the school at Christ’s Hospital for a fee (Pearce 206). Based on their salaries of £15 a year in petites
(Pearce 146). All of the older children had their own writing teacher. In addition to learning how to read and write, most of the children were taught a skill or trade to prepare them for later life. For example, the leaders of Christ’s Hospital saw the importance of music training for their students. Because no music master is identified in the records, it is likely that one of the teachers taught music in addition to their main duties (Pearce 135). Originally, the music master was intended to teach prickesong,
or music that was meant to be sung with the written notes, to about a dozen children who would then sing in the choir of Christ’s Church (Pearce 137). In
Christ’s Hospital was essentially self-governing. It had its own governors, received independent sources of income, and spent as it saw fit (Manzione 25). The hospital workers were either governors or paid employees. The men who held the office of governors were often unpaid for their duties, as the voluntary positions were seen as an impressive charitable act and leadership experience that could then be used to climb the ranks of city government. The governors were elected yearly to a wide range of positions and duties including president, treasurer, almoner, renter, and surveyor. The president of the hospital was the chief governor and was responsible for fundraising and overseeing the duties of the other governors (Manzione 42). The treasurer predictably kept track of bills, accounting, wages, and inventory of the hospital (Manzione 46). Almoners had a host of seemingly unrelated tasks, but their duties must have been deemed similar to the president, only with less power than the other governors. Almoners had to make sure that the hospital staff were satisfactorily performing their jobs, that the buildings were well kept, and that the children were receiving proper care (Manzione 47). The renter was in charge of overseeing the space of the hospital as it pertained to the hospital’s responsibility for payment of rent, as well as any repairs made to the hospital (Manzione 48). The surveyors had a similar job to that of the renter, but instead of the hospital itself, they were concerned with the property being rented out to others. Surveyors oversaw rented property belonging to Christ’s Hospital, including tenement buildings (Manzione 48). Unlike the voluntary nature of the governor’s work, the other employees were paid for their services. These positions included a clerk, a matron, nurses, a steward, a cook, a butler, a porter, beadles, a shoemaker, and the teachers (Manzione 40). Most of the positions are self-explanatory, but the clerk kept records about the children, the income and expenditure, and the decisions of the governors. Records were kept on each child concerning their admission and their current whereabouts (in the hospital, with a nurse, working, or dead). The clerk also kept track of the hospital staff, the pension program, and donations (Manzione 50). The matron oversaw the nursing staff and the cleanliness of the hospital. She lived on the grounds, and she personally oversaw the day-to-day concerns with the staff and supplies (Manzione 51).
Housing so many children and employing numerous staff, Christ’s Hospital was threatened by rampant disease on a number of occasions. Records from
Christ’s Hospital is mentioned in a handful of early modern plays, with one play actually set on site.
a clown character who winds up in Christ’s Hospital by working as a guide for his blind mother (John in the hospitall ,
The Great Fire of London caused severe damage to the site, but parts of the hospital survived. Though the church itself was consumed, four cloisters and three wards toward the west were unaffected (Pearce 208). No children died in the fire because everyone was evacuated to the Nag’s Head Inn in Islington, a property owned by the hospital (Pearce 209). With the hospital in shambles, few students could return to the original site in London, so most stayed at another property owned by the hospital in Hertfordshire; Christ’s Hospital would not be fully rebuilt untill the early 18th century (