Conference: Gleich und doch verschieden. Klösterliche Infirmarien und Hospitäler als Räume christlicher Nächstenliebe im Mittelalter

Based on the teachings in Matthew 25, nursing and hospitality are among the Seven Works of Mercy. As cornerstones of active Christian charity, both of these tasks are reflected not only in the various rules and customs of monastic, foundation, brotherhood, and sisterhood communities. Likewise, numerous architectural traces bear impressive witness to the charitable work of spiritual communities.

As part of an international conference taking place at the former Cistercian monastery of Eberbach, the institutions of monasteries, foundations, and other spiritual institutions that were formerly dedicated to the care of the sick and guests will be examined from regional, diachronic, and comparative institutional perspectives.

Particular focus will be placed on the topographical layout and architectural design of the spaces dedicated to charitable work. In this context, attention will be given to issues of cura corporis and cura animae, as well as matters of hospitality within religious communities from the 12th to the 16th centuries. The analysis will focus on the vita religiosa of the Canons Regular and Canessaries, Benedictine and mendicant communities, as well as hospitaller orders, the study of which—particularly from a comparative perspective—remains an unmet need.

A key challenge of this approach lies in the fact that the terms “infirmary” and “hospital” are used largely interchangeably to refer to medical facilities in many modern European languages. However, particularly in Benedictine monasteries, infirmaries and hospitals must be distinguished from one another as separate institutions during the High Middle Ages. The differentiation derived from the Latin root reflects the underlying distinction between the care of infirm members of the community in infirmaries and the reception of various groups of visitors in hospitels. This can be understood both through an examination of extant textual sources and through an artifact-sensitive approach to the architectural remains. These functional buildings have been preserved in many places and document the treatment of the sick and guests in everyday life.

The conference is rounded out by an examination of the infirmary hall preserved at Eberbach Abbey from the first half of the 13th century, which, as a space that can be experienced firsthand, stands out in a pan-European comparison as an outstanding example of this architectural type—one that was not limited to Cistercian monasteries.

You can find the program here.