Medieval people believed their
world had been designed by God and he had given each person a specific role
within it. Some God called to the
religious life, blessing them with holy insight and the strength to cope
without earthly comforts. Others were
gifted with military strength and the bravery to confront death on the
battlefield. Many more were seemingly destined
to a life of valiantly striving each day to keep poverty and destitution at
bay.
God gave Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk: high status, military prowess and political nous. These brought financial
advantages however also brought the Christian duty to use this wealth to
support others. For those serving God in
the religious life, in 1377 Michael founded a Carthusian monastery just outside
Hull’s North Gate. A few years later he
addressed his responsibility to those less fortunate. Next to the monastery he established the
‘Hospital of St Michael, commonly called God’s House without the gates of
Hull’, otherwise known by the snapper name of Charterhouse hospital.
The hospital opened in 1384 and was run separately from the
monastery itself, although it was still based on religious principles. It was no coincidence that it housed 13 men
and 13 women (the number of disciples plus Jesus himself). It was not a hospital in the modern sense,
rather a home for the elderly, the poor and those who were unable to work. Since these were all situations that seldom
led to peak fitness, many doubtless feel their health improve after having
sufficient food to eat and a restful place to sleep.
In return for food and shelter, the residents of the
Charterhouse hospital were expected to pray for their benefactor and his
family. They were reminded of this duty each
time they sat in the chapel, looking at the grave of Michael’s father, the
merchant and moneylender William de la Pole. Michael was later buried alongside him when he
died in 1389. Residents’ prayers were
essential to these departed souls. Only
the most saintly were thought to go direct to heaven, and the de la Poles had
been far too involved in the murky worlds of business and politics for that to
be the case.
Prayers were needed to lift them from where they were
stuck in purgatory to eternal salvation in heaven. And prayers from the poor residents of the
Charterhouse were seen as particularly effective, for with their lack of worldly
possessions they had certainly fulfilled Jesus' teaching ‘not to lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth’. For the residents themselves, such prayers were
perhaps a small price to pay to receive welfare support that was available
nowhere else.
Photo: Plaque displayed on the Charterhouse today commemorating the
hospital’s foundation.
