Foundation
The priory of the Order of St Mary of Bethlem was founded in 1247 during the reign of Henry III in the city of London following a donation of property by the London Alderman Simon fitzMary to the Bishop-elect of Bethlehem, the Italian Goffredo de Prefetti. Its first site was in the parish of St Botolph outside Bishopsgate, just beyond London's wall and where the south-east corner of Liverpool Street station now stands. The priory, obedient to the House of Bethlem, would house the poor and, when they visited, the Bishop, canons and brothers of Bethlehem. It was intended to function as a centre for the collection of alms to support the crusader church and to link England to the Holy Land. From approximately 1330 it was referred to as either a hospice or hospital.
Read more about this topic: Bethlem Royal Hospital
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