The Building Accounts of the Savoy Hospital, London, 1512-1520

Founded by Henry VII, the Savoy hospital was designed to execute corporal works of mercy and commemorate the king through prayer by housing one hundred poor men every night in palatial surroundings. The building complex, one of the landmarks of early Tudor London, was unique for English hospitals in its adoption of a cross-shaped ward, but its structural details have remained obscure. Published for the first time here, the building accounts record, edited here for the first time, provides detailed evidence of that structure, as well as of the hundreds of craftsmen and laborers who toiled to complete it. In addition to the accounts themselves, this volume contains a thorough contextual introduction, elucidatory notes, and a glossary of building terms. Charlotte A. Stanford is Associate Professor of Comparative Arts and Letters at Brigham Young University.