Xenodochium

In the early [Middle Ages], a xenodochium or was either a hostel or hospital, usually specifically for foreigners or pilgrims, although the term could refer to charitable institutions in general. The xenodochium was a church institution that first appeared in the Byzantine world. The xenodochium was a more common institution than any of its more-specific counterparts, such as the gerocomium, nosocomium or orphanotrophium. A hospital for victims of plague was called a xenodochium pestiferorum.