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The Hospital of Altopascio I n 1060 twelve persons from Lucca founded a hospital on the Via Francigena, that was the main road for pilgrims.The word hospital comes from the Latin word hospes, which means guest, because the convent of Altopascio started being a house for pilgrims.Later, the monks began to treat illnesses, and the word hospital took a different meaning, that is a place where sick people are cured. It was dedicated to St.James, who was the very first pilgrim, and to St.Egidio and to St.Christopher. It was guided by a prior who directed a community of men (fratres) and women (soro-res) who took care, respectively, of males and females. The monks of Altopascio were famous as the Knights of the Tau and they also kept and repaired wooden bridges. The sign of the hospital was the Tau, a Greek letter which was, at the same time, the image of the cross and the pilgrim’s staff. The hospital offered assistance to men, women and children, but it was divided according to social condition into pellegrinaio, that is a hospital for poor pilgrims, and curia dei nobili, that is a house for rich and noble people. Besides, there were canteens, kitchens, infirmaries, monks’ cells. |