comia were really first instituted under Constantine. | They were under the direct care of tlie bishop himself, and were, until the Middle Ages, oftentimes placed near or incorporated with their dwellings. But they must not be understood to have been, like the hospitals of oiu- own day, one immense building. They consisted of a number of small cottages (dormunculie), each intended for a certain malady. Procopius {De adif. Justinian. I, i, c. 2 ; Hist.Byzant. iii), in speaking of an ancient vale- tudinarium which was re-estabUshed and enlarged by Justmian, says that the enlargement consisted in the addition of a certain number of smaU houses ("numero dormuncularum"), and of additional annual revenues (•' annuo censu"). These numberless small houses, spread over a large area, gave to a hospital the appear- ance and extent of a village by itself. The nosoco- mia were also established in the West, but, unlike those of the East, they were confined to the houses of the bishops. Thus Augustine dined at the same table with the sick and poor to whom he afforded relief (Posidius, In ejus Vita, c. xxiii). After the downfall of the Ro- man empire, we find no mention made of hospitals in Europe for several centiu-ies. During that period the bishops generally took the whole care of the poor and the sick. The bishops' house was the refuge of the poor, the widows, the orphans, the sick, and the stran- gers ; the care of receiving and entertaining them was, as we have already stated, always considered one of the chief duties of the clergy. During the troubled times which followed the downfall of the Carlovingian dynas- ty the poor were almost forsaken ; gaunt famine stalked over Eiu-ope, and the clergy were hardly able to keep off starvation from their own doors. But in the 13th and 1-lth centiuries, when contagious diseases were rife in Europe, hospitals were generally established in near- ly all parts of the continent. Some were the fruit of private charity, others were established by the Church, and others by the state. They were usually under the direction of priests and monks, and in the course of time many abuses arose. In the progress of civilization both the condition and the management of such institu- tions -were greatly improved. At the present day, no civilized country is without its hospitals, either endowed and supported by the government or by private charity. The Protestant Clun-ch of Germany has institutions of deaconesses, wlio especially devote themselves to the care of the sick in hospitals, and from Germany these institutions have spread to many other countries. There are also in many countries special schools for tb,e training of nurses in hospitals. Among those who, in modern times, have exerted themselves for the improvement of the hospital service, Florence Nightingale is prominent. See Bergier, Dictionnaire de Theologie, s. v. ; Martigny, Diet, des Antiquites Chret. p. 289 sq. ; Aschbach, Kii- chen-Lex. iii, 336 sq. ; Leckey, History of Rationalism, ii, 263 sq. ; Gosselin, Poiver of the Pope, i,'l20, 222 ; Church of England Review, Jidy, 1855 ; Low, The Charities of London (Lond. 1850, 12mo) ; Nightingale, Notes on Nurs- ing (Lond. 1859); Dielfenbach, .1 w^ejV. zur Krankemvar- tung (Berl. 1832). See Almoner; Alms ; Deaconesses ; Foundling Hospitals ; Ohpiiax Asylums. (J. H.W.) Hospital Sisters, also called " Daughters of God," are communities of nuns and lay sisters founded for the same purpose originally as the Hospitallers (q. v.). Their organization spread even more rapidly than the latter, but they soon abandoned their original purpose, and turned their attention to the education of yoimg girls, especially orphans, and also to the redeeming of lost women. They are to be found to this day in France, the Netherlands, and in Italy, and are especially useful in taking care of the sick. Among their many branches we find the following: (1.) Hospital Sisters of Notre Dame of Refuge, founded in 1624 by EUzabeth of the Cross at Nancy, confirmed in 1634 by pope Urban VIII. They received in their houses three classes of women — virtuous girls, who by vows bound themselves to works of charity ; fallen women, who, after their reformation,
were likewise admitted to taking the vows ; finally, vol- untary'- penitents, and women who were sent to these in- stitutions against their wiU for correction. (2.) Hospi- tal Sisters of Loches (in Touraine), foimded in 1630 by the priest Pasquier Bouray. They had a very strict rule. (3.) Hospital Shters of the Mercy of Jesus, estab- lished in 1630 according to the rule of St. Augustine ; confirmed in 1638 by patent letters, and in 1664 and 1667 by papal buUs. (4.) Hosjntal Sisters of St. Joseph or of Providence ; see Providence, Orders of. (5.) Hospital Sisters of St. Thomas of Villeneuve, estabUshed ui 1660 by Angelus le Proust and Louis Chaboisseau, according to the third ride of St. Augustme ; received in 1661 the roj^al sanction, and stiU exist in France. (6.) Hospital Sisters of St. Augustine of Notre Dame of Christian Love, who originated in 1679 at Grenoble. (7.) Hospital Sisters of Besan^on, established in 1685, revived in 1807, have (1870) about eighteen houses. (8.) Hos- jiital Sisters of St. Martha of Pontarlier, established in 1687. (^.') Hospital Sisters of the Holy Ghost ; see Holy Ghost, Orders of. To the class of Hospital Sisters, in the wider sense of the word, may also be counted the Elizabethines, the Sisters of Charity, and many other congregations. — Herzog, Real-Encyhlop. vi, 285 ; Wetzer u. Welte, Kirchen-Lex. v, 345 sq. ; Helyot, Geschichte d. Kloster- u. Ritterorden, ii, 362 ; iv, 404, 437, 475, 482 ; vii, 342 sq. ; Theol. Univ. Lex. ii, 370 sq. (A. J. S.)