[MR] History Blog: Italy's Oldest Hospital Restored

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Yesterday's History Blog post reported on the restoration of the oldest
hospital in Italy.

The Schola Saxonum was founded in 727 by King Ine of Wessex as a hostel for
Anglo-Saxon pilgrims to Rome. It went through many incarnations and
expansions. In the 12th century it was converted to a hospital for the
indigent known as the Ospedale di Santo Spirito. The hospital included
an orphanage, complete with a revolving "foundling door", for the results
of unexpected pregnancies who previously had been drowned in the Tiber
River. In the late 15th century the building was renovated again with
marvelous Renaissance frescoes. It is to this phase that the building has
been restored. The foundling door is still there, though no longer used.

The story is at http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/64670
<https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0cjd7kw/the-ancient-golden-treasure-rewriting-danish-history>
 .

More is found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ospedale_di_Santo_Spirito_in_Sassia .

The foundling door is discussed in general at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_hatch . Modern versions are still in use
at many places around the world.

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆