Tim McHugh - Hospital politics in seventeenth-century France; The crown, urban elites, and

HOSPITAL POLITICS IN
SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE
The History of Medicine in Context
Series Editors: Andrew Cunningham and Ole Peter Grell
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
University of Cambridge
Department of History
The Open University
Titles in this series include:
Health Care and Poor Relief in 18th and 19th Century Southern Europe
Edited by Ole Peter Grell, Andrew Cunningham and Bernd Roeck
Hospital Care and the British Standing Army, 1660–1714
Eric Gruber von Arni
The Making of Addiction
The ‘Use and Abuse’of Opium in Nineteenth-Century Britain
Louise Foxcroft
Melancholy and the Care of the Soul
Religion, Moral Philosophy and Madness in Early Modern England
Jeremy Schmidt
Health, Sickness, Medicine and the Friars in the
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries
Angela Montford
Hospital Politics in
Seventeenth-Century France
The Crown, Urban Elites and the Poor
TIM McHUGH
© Tim McHugh 2007
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Tim McHugh has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
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Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
McHugh, Tim
Hospital Politics in Seventeenth-Century France : The Crown, Urban Elites and the
Poor. – (The History of Medicine in Context)
1. Hospitals – France – History – 17th century. 2. Public welfare – France – History –
17th century. 3. Medical policy – France – History - 17th century. 4. Sociology, Urban
– France – History - 17th century. 5. France – Social conditions – 17th century.
I. Title.
362.1’1’0944’09032
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McHugh, Tim.
Hospital Politics in Seventeenth-Century France: The Crown, Urban Elites, and the Poor
/ by Tim McHugh.
p. cm. – (The History of Medicine in Context)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Social medicine – France – History – 17th century. 2. Medical care – Political aspects
– France – History – 17th century. 3. Health care reform – France – History –
17th century. I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Hospital Administration – history – France. 2. Hospitals – history – France.
3. Social Welfare – history – France. 4. Health Care Reform – history – France.
5. Health Policy – history – France. 6. History, 17th Century – France.
WX 11 GF7 M478h 2007]
RA418.3.F8M34 2007
362.1’042–dc22 2006030023
ISBN: 978-0-7546-5762-0
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall.
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1 Theories of Charity and Poor Relief 11
2 Hospitals and the State 39
3 The Reform of the Paris Hôtel Dieu 55
4 The Reform of Poor Relief in Paris 83
5 Social Welfare in a Developing Provincial Capital: Montpellier 111
6 Reforming Social Welfare in a Divided Town: Nîmes 139
Conclusions 169
Bibliography 173
Index 181
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Senate of Victoria College in the University of Toronto,
the British Institute in Paris, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals of
the Universities of the United Kingdom, the Huguenot Church in London and the
Province of Ontario for their financial support without which this work would not
have been possible.
I am eternally grateful to my PhD supervisor, Roger Mettam, for the profound
influence his understanding of French history has had on me and his promptness in
vetting and returning earlier drafts of the thesis. I could have hoped for no finer person
for guidance. I would like to thank Julian Dent who first stimulated my interest in the
history of early modern France. My thanks are also due to those who benefited me
with their wisdom and knowledge of the subject: Colin Jones, Julian Swann, Peter
Campbell and Mark Bryant who all offered advice at critical times.
The archivists of the Archives de l’Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris
deserve a great deal of credit for pointing out valuable sources on the history of
the two Paris hospitals included in the study. I would like to thank those at the
Archives départmentales de l’Hérault and du Gard who likewise provided me with
assistance.
Last but not least I would like to thank my beloved wife Melissa, and my son
Thelonious, who offered me endless support during the research and writing of this
monograph. I would like to give thanks to my mother who helped me in many ways.
Finally, I would like to express gratitude to my parents-in-law the Aitkens for their
financial support.
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Abbreviations
AAP HG Archives de l’Assistance Publique, Hôpitaux de Paris, fonds
Hôpital Général....