The Maison Coignard was a prison hospital opened during the French Revolution to house wealthy prisoners from the various prisons opened as in the course of the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

then underway.

History

The location was originally a monastery of

canonesses regular Canoness is a member of a religious community of women living a simple life. Many communities observe the monastic Rule of St. Augustine. The name corresponds to the male equivalent, a canon. The origin and Rule are common to both. As with the ca ...

founded in 1640 by King Louis XIII, named the Priory of

Our Lady of Victory Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...

of Lepanto, in honor of the Christian victory over Ottoman forces in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Its site is in the corner of what is now Boulevard Diderot with Rue de Picpus. In 1792 the monastery was confiscated by the French government and the canonesses were forced to disband. In late 1793 the complex was leased by Eugène Coignard and converted into a 150-bed private prison hospital for those prisoners of the Terror who were able to pay for a more comfortable confinement. The majority of the people held there escaped execution. The most notorious prisoner at the Coignard House was the

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusat ...

. The former monastery gardens were seized by the city and used to bury the bodies of those executed at a guillotine set up nearby. The site was later purchased by surviving family members of the aristocracy who were buried in the common graves of the site. Today the cemetery is the

Picpus Cemetery Picpus Cemetery (french: Cimetière de Picpus, ) is the largest private cemetery in Paris, France, located in the 12th arrondissement. It was created from land seized from the convent of the Chanoinesses de St-Augustin, during the French Revolut ...

References

Christian monasteries established in the 17th century Hospitals established in the 1790s Hospitals in Paris Monasteries of Canonesses Regular Augustinian monasteries in France Monasteries destroyed during the French Revolution Defunct prisons in Paris Defunct hospitals in France 12th arrondissement of Paris {{Prison-stub