section_path: History/Middle Ages
section_name: Middle Ages
paragraph_text: Middle Ages
  
  The declaration of Christianity as an accepted religion in the Roman Empire drove an expansion of the provision of care. Following the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 construction of a hospital in every cathedral town was begun, including among the earliest hospitals by Saint Sampson in Constantinople and by Basil, bishop of Caesarea in modern-day Turkey. By the twelfth century, Constantinople had two well-organised hospitals, staffed by doctors who were both male and female. Facilities included systematic treatment procedures and specialised wards for various diseases.
  
  The earliest general hospital in the Islamic world was built in 805 in Baghdad by Harun Al-Rashid. By the 10th 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, by the end of the 15th century. The Islamic bimaristan served as a center of medical treatment, as well nursing home and lunatic asylum. It typically treated the poor, as the rich would have been treated in their own homes. Hospitals in this era were the first to require medical licenses for doctors, and compensation for negligence could be made. Hospitals were forbidden by law to turn away patients who were unable to pay. These hospitals were financially supported by waqfs, as well as state funds.
  
  In India, public hospitals existed at least since the reign of Firuz Shah Tughlaq in the 14th century. The Mughal emperor Jahangir in the 17th century established hospitals in large cities at government expense with records showing salaries and grants for medicine being paid for by the government.
  
  In China, during the Song Dynasty, the state began to take on social welfare functions previously provided by Buddhist monasteries and instituted public hospitals, hospices and dispensaries.