European
Many almshouses were European Christian institutions though some are secular. Alms are, in the Christian tradition, money or services donated to support the poor and indigent. Almshouses were established from the 10th century in Britain, to provide a place of residence for poor, old and distressed folk. The first recorded almshouse was founded in York by King Athelstan; the oldest still in existence is the Hospital of St. Cross in Winchester, dating to about 1132. In the Middle Ages, the majority of European hospitals functioned as almshouses.
Read more about this topic: Almshouse
Famous quotes containing the word european:
“Assassination is the perquisite of princes.”
—19th-century European court cliché.
“Is thy home European or Asian,
O mystical monster marine?”
—Arthur Clement Hilton (1851–1877)
“Long accustomed to the use of European manufactures, [the Cherokee Indians] are as incapable of returning to their habits of skins and furs as we are, and find their wants the less tolerable as they are occasioned by a war [the American Revolution] the event of which is scarcely interesting to them.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)