Our History - Your Heritage
The founder of St John's Hospital: Reginald Fitzjocelyn 1141 - 1191
Reginald Fitzjocelyn de Bohun, born in 1141, also known as Reginald the Lombard and Reginald Italus, was an educated man and visited Rome on several occasions. He was also a member of the de Maurienne dynasty. His mother was believed to be a de Maurienne, as was King Louis’s mother, so it is highly likely they were related.
In 1162, Henry II nominated Thomas Becket to Canterbury. At the age of 21, Reginald entered Becket’s household as an “eruditi” – an ecclesiastical lawyer.
In 1163, King Louis VII appointed Reginald the Abbot of St Exuperius in Corbeil (although he was not ordained). Reginald’s father Jocelyn was in dispute with the exiled Becket and, as a result, was excommunicated. There is much speculation about what transpired then, but it it likely that Reginald was recruited by Henry against Becket.
In January 1169, Reginald travelled with Henry to Montmirail near Chartres for a reconciliation conference with Becket and Louis VII. However, the conference broke down in acrimony. Becket excommunicated a number of influential people, including Reginald.
On June 23rd 1174, Reginald was ordained at St Jean de Maurienne by Archbishop Richard and the Bishop of Tarentaise. He then became Bishop of Bath.
As well as expanding Wells Cathedral, Reginald is remembered to this day as the Founder of The Hospital of John the Baptist for the poor and infirm in Bath.
A female leper begging for alms.
The clergy had a duty to care for the poor and infirm and although initially Reginald had problems in finding a suitable site, in 1180 his tenant Roger, son of Algar, granted land to the “hospital by the baths”. However, in 1190, Reginald placed the Hospital under the control of the Monastery.
Bishop Reginald’s foundation was not intended to be a hospital in the sense that we use it today, nor was it ever a hospice. Dedicating the charity to St John the Baptist was also in keeping with other similar institutions, especially given the proximity to the spa waters of the City.
A deed written around 1190 confirms that the Bishop had placed the Hospital under the control of the monastery of Bath and the duty of the foundation as being the support of the poor and infirm of the City – providing ‘hospitality’ to the local underprivileged.
The brethren and sisters of the charitable foundation gave blue gowns as clothing to the alms folk, hence St John’s became known as The Blue Alms. In common with all such religious almshouses, the recipients were expected to behave well and to partake, to some degree, in prayers to God for the soul of the institutions benefactors.
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