Holy Spirit Hospices in the urban tissue of 13th and 14th century towns in Mecklenburg

Abstract

Charitable institutions played a crucial role in the social fabric of medieval towns. The planting of 40 towns and the rapid growth of urban life in 13th-century Mecklenburg changed the social fabric of the population. While families in rural areas provide shelter and care to exposed members, the transition of the mostly rural population to an urban lifestyle poses challenges for the social fabric The spread of communal Holy Spirit Hospices in the 13th and 14th century served a vital purpose and posed relevant questions as to the localisation of these institutions in the growing urban tissue.

The contribution of this article is to survey the known hospices in the planted towns in 13th century Mecklenburg, locate them in the urban form, analyse size, layout, and location in relation to their function in the urban tissue. This geometrical and statistical examination is intended to lead to conclusions as to their role in the prevention and proliferation of pandemic illnesses in medieval Mecklenburg.