Almshouse
An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain forms of previous employment, or their widows, and at elderly people who could no longer pay rent, and are generally maintained by a charity or the trustees of a bequest (alms are, in the Christian tradition, money or services donated to support the poor and indigent). Almshouses were originally formed as extensions of the church system and were later adapted by local officials and authorities. History Many almshouses are European Christian institutions though some are secular. Almshouses provide subsidised accommodation, often integrated with social care resources such as wardens. England Almshouses were established from the 10th century in Britain, to provide a place of residence for poor, old and distressed people. They were sometimes called bede-houses, and the residents bedesmen or bedeswomen. Bede is the Anglo-Saxon word for prayer, and the almsmen and women were obliged to pray for the founder of the charity. The first recorded almshouse was founded in York by King Athelstan; the oldest still in existence is