This research investigates the diversity between the foundation period of leper houses in Holland and regions around Holland. The field of investigation are the surrounding areas England, central...Show moreThis research investigates the diversity between the foundation period of leper houses in Holland and regions around Holland. The field of investigation are the surrounding areas England, central and north French kingdom, Flanders, Brabant, the Rhine valley, gelre and Friesland. The leper houses of Holland are mostly founded after the great plague of the mid 1400’s, while the leprosaria of surrounding areas where in general founded in the 12th and 13th century. This diversity can be explained by the differences in the circumstances of these foundations. The early European leper houses are founded by the local nobility. They felt responsible for the wellbeing of the local community and felt an urge to found a leper house by religious motivations. These foundations of houses occurred in a period where a lot of houses of charity where founded by religious motives: hospitals, alms houses, orphanages, abbeys, and cloisters. The late European foundations, centred in north-west Europe, can be explained by the state of urbanisation of these counties. In growing cities in Holland arose an urban elite, consisting of wealthy merchants and craftsmen. These patricians controlled the daily life of the city. To form a Christian city solidarity and urban mentality in their city, it was important to ‘organize’ the city, construct a form of socials control, and manage the intern population. By this motivation, the new elite founded leper houses to control and maintain a strict border between the sick and the healthy, the poor and the wealthy.Show less
