Raeri ( born Rahere, Raher , lat. Raherius ) (d. September 20, 1145 [1] ) - an English clergyman , in his youth was a favorite of King Henry I. Known as the founder of the oldest hospital in London, St. Bartholomew .
Biography
Little is known about Raeri's life. It is reported that he was born into a noble family during the reign of William the Conqueror (1066-1087). In his youth, he was often invited to the houses of the nobility, the residence of the princes, and then King Wilhelm Rufus himself , where he entertained his listeners with speeches and pleasant to hear speeches. However, at some point, Raerie turned to God under the spiritual guidance of who became in 1108. Shortly after 1120, he made a pilgrimage to Rome . There he visited the places of martyrdom of the apostles Peter and Paul , mourned his sins and decided to lead a righteous life. According to legend, during a pilgrimage, while in the abbey of Tre Fontane , he fell ill and was near death, but he had a vision of St. Bartholomew , whom he promised to establish a hospital upon his return, which was done in March 1127. Raeri also founded the Great Church of Bartholomew and became her first rector. There he was engaged in medical practice, using, in particular, a particle of the True Cross that he had, until his death in 1144 [2] or 1145 [1] .
The main source about Raeri’s life is the manuscript Liber fundacionis ecclesie sancti Bartholomei Londoniarum . Compiled before 1189, it was originally stored in the church founded by Raeri, then it ended up in the legendary collection of Robert Cotton , where it was stored under the bust of the Roman emperor Vespasian , and as a result acquired the number Vespasian B. IX . Its next owners were , the son of the previous owner, and . In 1753, the manuscript came to the British Museum . Initially, the manuscript was compiled in Latin , and when copying a copy of the extant extant around 1400, its English translation was added.
Raeri is one of the main characters in R. Kipling 's fairy tale “The Tree of Justice”, included in the collection “ Fairy Gifts ” (1910), as well as Rosemary Sutcliffe 's novel “The Witch's Spawn”.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Moore, 1918 , p. 23.
- ↑ DNB, 1896 .
Literature
- Moore N. The history of St. Bartholomew's Hospital . - London: C. Arthur Pierson Limited, 1918 .-- 614 p.
- NM Rahere // Dictionary of National Biography. - New York, 1896. - T. XLVII . - S. 166 .
- Kipling R. Gifts fairies / Per. M. Boroditskaya, G. Kruzhkov, T. Chernyshova. - Ripol Classic, 2010 .-- 480 p. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-386-02235-8 .