<P> No less efficient was the work done by the diocesan clergy in accordance with the disciplinary enactments of the councils of Aachen (817, 836), which prescribed that a hospital should be maintained in connection with each collegiate church . The canons were obliged to contribute towards the support of the hospital, and one of their number had charge of the inmates . As these hospitals were located in cities, more numerous demands were made upon them than upon those attached to the monasteries . In this movement the bishop naturally took the lead, hence the hospitals founded by Heribert (d . 1021) in Cologne, Godard (d . 1038) in Hildesheim, Conrad (d . 975) in Constance, and Ulrich (d . 973) in Augsburg . But similar provision was made by the other churches; thus at Trier the hospitals of Saint Maximin, Saint Matthew, Saint Simeon, and Saint James took their names from the churches to which they were attached . During the period 1207--1577 no less than one hundred and fifty - five hospitals were founded in Germany . </P> <P> The Ospedale Maggiore, traditionally named Ca' Granda (i.e. Big House), in Milan, northern Italy, was constructed to house one of the first community hospitals, the largest such undertaking of the fifteenth century . Commissioned by Francesco Sforza in 1456 and designed by Antonio Filarete it is among the first examples of Renaissance architecture in Lombardy . </P> <P> The Normans brought their hospital system along when they conquered England in 1066 . By merging with traditional land - tenure and customs, the new charitable houses became popular and were distinct from both English monasteries and French hospitals . They dispensed alms and some medicine, and were generously endowed by the nobility and gentry who counted on them for spiritual rewards after death . </P> <P> The first Muslim hospital was an asylum to contain leprosy, built in the early eighth century, where patients were confined but, like the blind, were given a stipend to support their families . The earliest general hospital was built in 805 in Baghdad by Harun Al - Rashid . By the tenth century, Baghdad had five more hospitals, while Damascus had six hospitals by the 15th century and Córdoba alone had 50 major hospitals, many exclusively for the military . Many of the prominent early Islamic hospitals were founded with assistance by Christians such as Jibrael ibn Bukhtishu from Gundeshapur . "Bimaristan" is a compound of "bimar" (sick or ill) and "stan" (place). In the medieval Islamic world, the word "bimaristan" referred to a hospital establishment where the ill were welcomed, cared for and treated by qualified staff . </P>

When was the first hospital built in england