The ''Hôpital des Enfants-Trouvés'' was an institution of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

established to take care of abandoned children. It was founded by

Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was an Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622, Vincent was appointed as chaplain to the galleys. ...

in 1638.

History

Foundation

Until the 17th centuryth century, there were institutions caring for orphans. In 1363, the hospital of Saint-Esprit-en-Grève was founded, and under Francis I, the Hospice des Enfants-Rouges was established. In 1545, the Hospital of the Trinity was designated for orphans, but it only served children born of legitimate unions.. Abandoned children were instead left to public

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

. The bishop and chapter of Notre-Dame reluctantly housed them in a shelter located at Port l'Évêque (serving the Ville l'Évêque, now Port de la Concorde). After 1571, they were moved to houses near Port Saint-Landry. In 1633,

founded the Daughters of Charity to help the poor and sick. Significant financial donations from high society funded the institution, and the children were entrusted to the care of the sisters. A second refuge is said to have been created on Rue des Boulangers near the Porte Saint-Victor. In 1645, a group of thirteen houses located in the Champ Saint-Laurent was purchased to house newborns. In

1647 Events January–March * January 2 – Chinese bandit leader Zhang Xianzhong, who has ruled the Sichuan province since 1644, is killed at Xichong County, Xichong by a Qing archer, after having been betrayed by one of his officer ...

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...

granted the sisters the Château de Bicêtre. However, being inconvenient and too far from the center of Paris, it was abandoned in 1651 in favor of a site in the Faubourg Saint-Denis.. A royal edict on 28 June 1670 officially created the Hôpital des Enfants-Trouvés and attached it to the Hôpital Général. On 24 September 1672, the hospital purchased the Maison de la Marguerite, located on Rue Neuve-Notre-Dame on the

Île de la Cité The Île de la Cité (; English: City Island, "Island of the City") is one of the two natural islands on the Seine River (alongside, Île Saint-Louis) in central Paris. It spans of land. In the 4th century, it was the site of the fortress of ...

, where assistance to abandoned children was traditionally centered. The house was demolished and replaced by a building with "a chapel below edicated to the Holy Childhood of Jesus.., two square floors above the chapel, with two rooms on each floor." The work was completed in the summer of 1673, and the children were moved in. In 1674, a property was acquired on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine to house children over the age of three. For reasons unknown, this site was closed between 1689 and 1698, during which boys and sick children of both sexes were sent to the Salpêtrière, while girls were sent to the Pitié. The premises on the Île de la Cité quickly became overcrowded, prompting the hospital in 1681 to rent three houses (known as the Croix de Fer, Couronne, and Épée) from the

Hôtel-Dieu In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu () was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris being the oldest an ...

. In March 1688, the hospital purchased the Image Saint-Victor from the Abbey of Saint-Victor, partly to expand the chapel. The renovations were carried out in the spring of 1688, and the expanded chapel was blessed on 3 August that year. That same year, the hospital attempted to buy the three rented houses and another, the Chaudron House, but the Hôtel-Dieu refused, fearing it would lose a share of its

alms Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving. Etymology The word ''alms'' come ...

. This building, known as "La Couche," served as a redistribution center for all abandoned children entrusted to the Parisian administration. It sent unweaned infants to wet nurses and directed older children back to Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, purchased in 1674. Conditions in these facilities were cramped, unsanitary, and unsuitable, leading to high mortality among newborns. In 1690, the Hôpital des Enfants-Trouvés merged with the Hôpital des Enfants-Rouges.

References

External links

* (1831); by André Delrieu Hospitals in Paris Child welfare Organizations for orphaned and abandoned children 1638 in France {{Europe-hospital-stub

History

Foundation

See also

References

External links