Medical historians have traditionally claimed that modern hospitals emerged during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Premodern hospitals, according to many scholars, existed mainly as refuges for the desperately poor and sick, providing patients with little or no medical care. Challenging this view in a compelling survey of hospitals in the East Roman Empire, Timothy Miller traces the birth and development of Byzantine xenones, or hospitals, from their emergence in the fourth century to their decline in the fifteenth century, just prior to the Turkish conquest of Constantinople. These sophisticated medical facilities, he concludes, are the true ancestors of modern hospitals. In a new introduction to this paperback edition, Miller describes the growing scholarship on this subject in recent years.
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A very important book that will be consulted by students and scholars in diverse aspects of medicine... Guaranteed to excite controversy... [and] engender a long overdue interest in the medical procedures of one of the great world civilizations.
(Isis )Dr. Miller is a learned and enterprising historian with a fascinating theme. He shows beyond a doubt that the Western hospital tradition goes back to the early Byzantine Empire in the fourth century.
(Medical History )Those who look into Byzantine health care with Professor Miller as their guide will gain a much more favorable impression of the subject than now prevails. En route they will learn in this readable book a great deal about other aspects of Byzantine society and much about classical and medieval medicine in general.
(Bulletin of the History of Medicine )When this book was originally published in 1985, it marked the first comprehensive treatment of the history of the Byzantine hospital... In a new introduction to his text Miller defends his earlier line of argument in detail.
(Lawrence I. Conrad Social History of Medicine )Book Description
A medical historian argues that the sophisticated medical facilities of the Byzantine Empire are the true ancestors of modern hospitals.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful !,
This review is from: The Birth of the Hospital in the Byzantine Empire (Supplement to the Bulletin of the History of Medicine) (Paperback)
This book easily assists the student and the scholar in a better understanding of the emergence of the hospital in history. To be enjoyed in the comfort of one's favorite armchair. The reading community can look forward with anticipation to his latest contribution, The Orphans of Byzantium.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful and convincing,
By Stratiotes Doxha Theon "2 Thes 2:15" (Richmond, Missouri) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE)
This review is from: The Birth of the Hospital in the Byzantine Empire (Supplement to the Bulletin of the History of Medicine) (Paperback)
In this insightful work, the author makes a convincing case for the seeds of the modern hospital ideals in the Christian-inspired charity of the Byzantine empire. At times the author seems to belabor the point and that would be the only detraction from the content. The evidence is, however, extensive and thoroughly convincing. An important work for any interested in medical history in particular.
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First Sentence:
When first published in 1985, Birth of the Hospital in the Byzantine Empire represented the first monograph devoted solely to tracing the history of Byzantine hospitals, the philanthropic institutions designed exclusively to treat the physically ill. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
urban monastic movement, xenon practice, philanthropic medicine, anargyroi cults, xenon service, philanthropic houses, phlebotomy texts, urban monks, urban ascetics, pure theoria, pious houses, secular medicine, private founders, monthly shifts, public physicians, classical physicians, monastic infirmary, treatment lists, cenobitic community, philanthropic agencies, sick monks, cenobitic communities, philanthropic institutions, charitable operations, imperial foundations Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Pantokrator Xenon, East Roman, Asia Minor, Pantokrator Typikon, Sampson Xenon, Dark Age, Mangana Xenon, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nazianz, Lips Xenon, Krales Xenon, Latin West, Vatican List, Book of Ceremonies, Christodotes Xenon, Council of Chalcedon, John Zachariah, Paul of Aegina, Basil of Caesarea, Hagia Sophia, Myrelaion Xenon, Saint Sampson, Western Europe, Greek East, Gregory of Nyssa New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
When first published in 1985, Birth of the Hospital in the Byzantine Empire represented the first monograph devoted solely to tracing the history of Byzantine hospitals, the philanthropic institutions designed exclusively to treat the physically ill. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
urban monastic movement, xenon practice, philanthropic medicine, anargyroi cults, xenon service, philanthropic houses, phlebotomy texts, urban monks, urban ascetics, pure theoria, pious houses, secular medicine, private founders, monthly shifts, public physicians, classical physicians, monastic infirmary, treatment lists, cenobitic community, philanthropic agencies, sick monks, cenobitic communities, philanthropic institutions, charitable operations, imperial foundations Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Pantokrator Xenon, East Roman, Asia Minor, Pantokrator Typikon, Sampson Xenon, Dark Age, Mangana Xenon, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nazianz, Lips Xenon, Krales Xenon, Latin West, Vatican List, Book of Ceremonies, Christodotes Xenon, Council of Chalcedon, John Zachariah, Paul of Aegina, Basil of Caesarea, Hagia Sophia, Myrelaion Xenon, Saint Sampson, Western Europe, Greek East, Gregory of Nyssa New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 38
books:
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56
books
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- The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 3 by Edward Gibbon on page 9, and Back Matter
- The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon on page 9, and Back Matter
- Hospitals, Doctors, and the Public Interest by John H. Knowles in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Hippocratic Tradition (Cornell publications in the history of science) by Wesley D. Smith in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Byzantine Philanthropy and Social Welfare (Studies in the Social and Religious History of the Medieval Greek World, Vol 1) by Demetrios J. Constantelos on page 19, and Back Matter
See all 38 books this book cites
- Raising Lazarus: Integral Healing in Orthodox Christianity by Stephen Muse on page 18, page 24, and page 39
- Accommodating the Chinese: The American Hospital in China, 1880-1920 (East Asia: History, Politics, Sociology and Culture) by Michelle Campbell Renshaw in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Hippocrates in a World of Pagans and Christians by Owsei Temkin in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Hungry Are Dying: Beggars and Bishops in Roman Cappadocia (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology) by Susan R. Holman in Front Matter, page 80, and Back Matter
- The Byzantines (The Peoples of Europe) by Averil Cameron in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 56 books citing this book
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