Tag: Stephen Martin
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A Regency epitaph for a child
Stephen MartinCounty Durham, UK In some spot where common herbage growsPerchance a violet rears its purple head:Some careful gardener plucks it ere it blowsTo spread and flourish in a nobler bed:Such was thy fate dear child, thy opening suchPre-eminence in early bloom was shown:Too good for earth perhaps or lov’d too much.Heaven saw, and early…
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St. Godric and the lost leper hospital of Darlington
Stephen MartinUK In the late 1100s, the English monk Reginald of Durham wrote an account in Latin of the hermit St. Godric, whom he knew personally.1 Reginald attributed over two hundred healing miracles to him, with detailed descriptions including the patient’s name and origin.2 Reginald’s book deserves to be better known as a rich catalogue…
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The monastic infirmaries of North Yorkshire
Stephen MartinUK North Yorkshire had many wealthy monasteries with infirmaries to care for sick monks or lay brothers.1 They were founded in the twelfth century with agricultural self-funding, and were finally dissolved by King Henry VIII. Their remains pose as many questions as they answer. The designation of abbey, priory, or friary depended on the…
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The medieval hospitals of County Durham
Stephen MartinCounty Durham, UK County Durham in the northeast of England is rich in the atmospheric remains and documented history of medieval hospitals, all connected with the church. Looking at the whole group has some interesting new lessons. Durham Cathedral Durham City’s Benedictine Priory, later the Cathedral, ran two infirmaries.1 One, for “lay folk,”2 with…
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The symbolic portrait of Mozart’s patron Dr. Ferdinand Dejean
Stephen MartinDurham, United Kingdom Dr. Ferdinand Dejean (1731–1797) grew up in the Bonn Court alongside Beethoven’s father and trained as a surgeon.1,2 For ten years he worked on Dutch East India Company ships from Persian Gulf islands to Sri Lanka, in Bengal, India and in Batavia – now modern-day Jakarta, Indonesia. He married Anna Maria…
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Kirkleatham Hospital
Stephen MartinMahasarakham Art and architecture in historic almshouses provided aesthetic pleasure, improved self-esteem and attended to spiritual need. An example of early Enlightenment philanthropy in the English village of Kirkleatham, Cleveland, provides major humanitarian lessons for the planners of today. East Cleveland was used to progressive thinking. A remarkable socio-geographical commentary on the area was…
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The Siamese Expeditionary Force of World War I and the Spanish Flu
Khwanchai PhusrisomStephen MartinMahasarakham, Thailand The Siamese military presence In July 1918, 1284 Siamese volunteers arrived in Marseilles by ship1. Their air force personnel did not see action because their training had not been completed before the end of the war. The ground troops (Fig 1) had been trained, but being too few to form an…