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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Rahere
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(d. 1144) Often described as court jester to *Henry I, he seems rather to have been a worldly cleric who moved in royal circles. His lasting fame derives from his building of *St Bartholomew the Great and his founding of *Bart's. Each was the result of his contracting malaria on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and vowing to build a hospital if he returned safely; St Bartholomew was said to have appeared to him in a vision, requesting a church as well.
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