Rahere (pronounced ), or Raher or Raherius, was an Anglo-Norman priest and monk. He was a favourite of King Henry I and is most famous for having founded the Priory of the Hospital of St Bartholomew in 1123. Many of the details of Rahere's life have become confused, having been variously described as a cleric, a courtier, a minstrel and a

jester A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...

, but undoubtedly Rahere existed and did many of the things in the legends about him. He may at different times in his life have been all of these. Rahere is listed as a canon of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

in a document of 1115. On a pilgrimage to Rome, he fell ill and had a reputed vision of St Bartholomew, who directed him to establish a religious

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

. Upon his return to England, he followed this calling and founded a priory at Smithfield in London, being installed as its

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

, a position he held until his death. An ornate tomb in his memory can be found inside the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great. He is the subject of Rudyard Kipling's poem "Rahere", collected in ''Debits and Credits'', as well as being a major figure in Kipling's story "The Tree of Justice", featuring in '' Rewards and Fairies''. He is also a significant character in Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novel for children, ''The Witch's Brat'' (1970). It seems likely that Sutcliff was first introduced to Rahere by reading Kipling's ''Rewards and Fairies'' as a child and later chose him as a character for one of her own books: Kipling's works are a significant and openly acknowledged inspiration for Sutcliff.

References

External links

Rahere's grant

Photograph of Rahere's tomb in the church of St Bartholomew-the-Great

* 1144 deaths 12th-century English people Augustinian canons English officers of arms {{England-reli-bio-stub