The Hospital of St. Thomas of Canterbury and Margery Kempe
Title
The Hospital of St. Thomas of Canterbury and Margery Kempe
Description
In the early 15th century, the Roman building that is now the Venerable English College was the Hospital of St. Thomas of Canterbury. This particular hospital was famous for housing Margery Kempe at the beginning and end of her stay in Rome, from Winter 1414 to Spring 1415. With Rome recovering after from the popes’ returning from Avignon and the squabbling powerful families in the area - especially in the Jewish ghetto, in which the Hospital of St. Thomas owned property - the Rome into which Margery Kempe entered would have been on the precarious side of glory.
This insecurity comes into play when Margery Kempe, inspired by her travel companion Margarete Florentyn of Assisi, decides to give away all her money, including that which she borrowed from her only other consistent travel companion, a man named Richard. She was evicted from the hospital, after which she went through her famous ‘marriage to the godhead,’ dressed all in white. Through begging, she was eventually able to pay back Richard and support herself. Only at this point was she readmitted to the Hospital of St. Thomas. It was also during this time that, at a loss for a confessor, she befriended a German priest and prayed for thirteen days that he be divinely endowed with an understanding of the English language, thus miraculously forging herself a confessor to serve both as a tool for her faith and as evidence of it.
Her admission to the hospital was originally based on her identity as several of the groups helped by hospitals: a woman, traveling alone, from another country -- and at this hospital, specifically from England. Presumably, her encounters with the hospital, locked down for history in her accounts, would have been similar to those of other English pilgrims, other women, and other religiously ecstatic individuals. Margery Kempe spent time at several churches nearby the Hospital of St. Thomas, including St. Bridget’s, the teachings of which also informed her pious behavior, and St. Catherine’s, still around the corner from the College. Her experience as a traveler of Rome was shaped by experiences she could have had only as a pedestrian, and as someone living in such a space; several seminal encounters on her journey would never have happened if she had stayed with an elite friend or traveled with an entourage. Some of these encounters, especially with impoverished women, decidedly shaped her ideas about poverty as a pious technique and about the religious roles of women.
All that is left now in the Venerable English College of the medieval hospital is the shield which Henry VII placed over its entryway (now visible inside the main hallway) and the window from the hospital’s church, moved into the central courtyard.
This insecurity comes into play when Margery Kempe, inspired by her travel companion Margarete Florentyn of Assisi, decides to give away all her money, including that which she borrowed from her only other consistent travel companion, a man named Richard. She was evicted from the hospital, after which she went through her famous ‘marriage to the godhead,’ dressed all in white. Through begging, she was eventually able to pay back Richard and support herself. Only at this point was she readmitted to the Hospital of St. Thomas. It was also during this time that, at a loss for a confessor, she befriended a German priest and prayed for thirteen days that he be divinely endowed with an understanding of the English language, thus miraculously forging herself a confessor to serve both as a tool for her faith and as evidence of it.
Her admission to the hospital was originally based on her identity as several of the groups helped by hospitals: a woman, traveling alone, from another country -- and at this hospital, specifically from England. Presumably, her encounters with the hospital, locked down for history in her accounts, would have been similar to those of other English pilgrims, other women, and other religiously ecstatic individuals. Margery Kempe spent time at several churches nearby the Hospital of St. Thomas, including St. Bridget’s, the teachings of which also informed her pious behavior, and St. Catherine’s, still around the corner from the College. Her experience as a traveler of Rome was shaped by experiences she could have had only as a pedestrian, and as someone living in such a space; several seminal encounters on her journey would never have happened if she had stayed with an elite friend or traveled with an entourage. Some of these encounters, especially with impoverished women, decidedly shaped her ideas about poverty as a pious technique and about the religious roles of women.
All that is left now in the Venerable English College of the medieval hospital is the shield which Henry VII placed over its entryway (now visible inside the main hallway) and the window from the hospital’s church, moved into the central courtyard.
Creator
Julia Truten (2019)
Source
Howes, Laura L. "Romancing the City: Margery Kempe in Rome." 680-90. Studies in Philology. University of North Carolina Press, 2014.
Identifier
stthomasmargerykempehospital_2017
Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Via di Monserrato, 45, 00186 Roma RM
Description
In the early 15th century, the Roman building that is now the Venerable English College was the Hospital of St. Thomas of Canterbury. This particular hospital was famous for housing Margery Kempe at the beginning and end of her stay in Rome, from Winter 1414 to Spring 1415. With Rome recovering after from the popes’ returning from Avignon and the squabbling powerful families in the area - especially in the Jewish ghetto, in which the Hospital of St. Thomas owned property - the Rome into which Margery Kempe entered would have been on the precarious side of glory.This insecurity comes into play when Margery Kempe, inspired by her travel companion Margarete Florentyn of Assisi, decides to give away all her money, including that which she borrowed from her only other consistent travel companion, a man named Richard. She was evicted from the hospital, after which she went through her famous ‘marriage to the godhead,’ dressed all in white. Through begging, she was eventually able to pay back Richard and support herself. Only at this point was she readmitted to the Hospital of St. Thomas. It was also during this time that, at a loss for a confessor, she befriended a German priest and prayed for thirteen days that he be divinely endowed with an understanding of the English language, thus miraculously forging herself a confessor to serve both as a tool for her faith and as evidence of it.
Her admission to the hospital was originally based on her identity as several of the groups helped by hospitals: a woman, traveling alone, from another country -- and at this hospital, specifically from England. Presumably, her encounters with the hospital, locked down for history in her accounts, would have been similar to those of other English pilgrims, other women, and other religiously ecstatic individuals. Margery Kempe spent time at several churches nearby the Hospital of St. Thomas, including St. Bridget’s, the teachings of which also informed her pious behavior, and St. Catherine’s, still around the corner from the College. Her experience as a traveler of Rome was shaped by experiences she could have had only as a pedestrian, and as someone living in such a space; several seminal encounters on her journey would never have happened if she had stayed with an elite friend or traveled with an entourage. Some of these encounters, especially with impoverished women, decidedly shaped her ideas about poverty as a pious technique and about the religious roles of women.
All that is left now in the Venerable English College of the medieval hospital is the shield which Henry VII placed over its entryway (now visible inside the main hallway) and the window from the hospital’s church, moved into the central courtyard.