The epoch 1614-1660 forms a period of reconstruction following on the anarchy of the Religious Wars, during which the medieva1 institutions of assistance, hospitals, schools, etc, small and localised but probably meeting the needs of small, rural populations fairly adequately, collapsed or degenerated. After 1614, assistance gras organised on modern lines, catering for a proletariat population on a pretty large scale. Hospitals, though mostly of private foundation, were administered by tam authorities. These maintained an ultra-conservative attitude towards medical problems, but in their approach to administrative problems followed modern lines. Improvements included: (a) the extension and improvement of wards, more adequate supply of eater. (b) more careful grading, the erection of isolation hospitals and convalescent hashes, provision of maternity wards. (a) the speoialleation'of the care of orphaned and abandoned children, ( in Paris, first as a private venture in 1638, as a municipal institution from 1670 ). This included the nursing of infants, the systematic supervision of country foster-mothers, the teaching and apprenticing of older children. The visiting of the siok-poor is their own hmes, initiated by St. Vincent in country diatriots, was taken up by town parishes. The women of the " confraternities ' systematically prepared and distributed food, linen and utensils. The companies were autonomous, but were inspected annually and helped in emergencies by the ' Ladies of Charity ' in Paris. St. Vinoent's letters mention 107 groups which he organised, in addition to those of the Paris parishes. Mazy others were established on the same model. The need for trained workers for the more technical duties, nursing in the home and in hospitals and the teaching of little girls, led to the evolution of the Sisters of Charity ". In Paris, private ' Companies of Charity ' eked out the meagre provision of the ' Grand Bureau des Pauvres' in the distribution of out-relief to ' respectable poor', set up depots for the furnishing of shopkeepers and artisans with iaaterials, apprenticed children, and inspected the Paris schools catering for large numbers of poor children who were provided with free dinners, clothes, etc. ( Note, the first Labour Exchange dates from this period ). These companies organised relief on a very large scale for the intaded duchy of Lorraine, and for Paris and the provinces of Picardy end Champagne during the Fronde. The success of their relief-centres encouraged them to tackle the problem of the Paris vagrants, and the huge General-Hospital or workhouse was opened in 1655. In the following half-century, similar workhouses were established in most large towns, while the "Confraternities of Charity" were supposed to cater for rural poor.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:546715 |
| Date | January 1936 |
| Creators | Archer, Elizabeth |
| Publisher | London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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