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Louviers Editorial
Published on Sep 7, 2024 at 7:30 a.m.
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In 1212the monks of the Saint-Taurin Abbey of Évreux offer the bourgeois of Louviers (Eure) a plot of land on the Saint-Jean meadows, on the banks of the Eure River. In exchange, the latter build a establishment responsible for welcoming the poor and the sick of the city, whose financial management they ensure, the operation remaining the responsibility of the religious communities.
L’hospice Saint-Jean – sometimes also called Saint-Gilles hospice or hôtel-dieu – therefore took on a dual function from its creation. It is both hospitalintended for the sick, and innwelcoming the elderly, the infirm, the incurable and orphans.
First reserved for menit aims to reconcile Christian charity and the maintenance of public order. Thus, from 1818 to 1888, the poor people of Lovere were employed, more or less willingly, in charity workshops, where work was then presented as a remedy for the vice born of poverty.
Care for goods
Under the Ancien Régimethe financial situation of the hospital is flourishing, thanks to the donations and legacies it receives, as well as the numerous rents collected on properties located in Louviers, but also throughout the diocese of Évreux and as far as the Pays de Caux. Added to this are donations in kind such as cereals or poultry, with a clear predilection for capons! These offerings allow donors to establish their reputation for charity, while imploring divine indulgence in expiation for their sins.
The Les Rives de Saint-Taurin nursing home is now part of the Louviers hospital. ©La Dépêche de Louviers – Pierre CHOISNET – archiveVideos: currently on Actu
Furthermore, people who join the hospice to end their days there finance their stay by handing over all or part of their possessions to the institution. This is how mention is made, in 1661, of the “donation, in exchange for good care and support, by Louis Le Prevost and Agnès Nesle his wife of a house, hovel and garden located in the parish of Saint-Germain”, together with all the rents attached to the property.
Ces numerous financial returns therefore require precise management, entrusted to the bursar under the supervision of administrators, members of the local elite. The latter submit annual accounts, but are sometimes accused of mismanagement. The hospital archives in fact keep track, in 1659, from a complaint by the administrators following slanderous accusations of “using the money of the poor to support unjust or ridiculous trials.”
Some disputes may indeed exist, especially when it comes to important financial or real estate issues, and The hospital does not let itself be dispossessed without fighting backas evidenced by the six years of litigation brought to recover the estate of Madeleine Frigard between 1740 and 1746.
A coveted jackpot
In 1616on the occasion of the creation of the Saint-Louis hospice in the city center, on the current site of the town hall square, a royal foundation charter reaffirms the rights and advantages granted to the two establishments. During the 18th century, the Saint-Jean hospital gradually assumed the management of the assets assigned to its counterpart and to the Saint-Hildevert leprosariumtaking charge of a vast heritage. This will be confiscated during the French Revolution as national property, since it falls under the property belonging to an establishment considered religious.
Since 1798the administrative commission, in charge of managing the hospital, launched a petition demanding the replacement of the goods sold at the expense of the hospice, or at least financial compensation. Despite multiple reminders throughout the first half of the 19th century, their request remained ineffective, even though the missions assigned to the hospital continued to grow.
Indeed, the secularization of religious bodies and the evolution of assistance policies led the hospital to welcome women and to reorient itself towards assistance and care. New, better adapted and more specialized services were created: operating rooms, maternity, tuberculosis pavilionThey are often built and developed with the help of private donations and legacies, which support the budget allocated by the municipality and the welfare office, but also the Department and the State.
In 1989the municipal hospital becomes the CHIELVR (Elbeuf – Louviers – Val-de-Reuil intercommunal hospital center) then joins the “Val de Seine et Plateaux de l’Eure” Territorial Hospital Group which now includes two hospitals and five EHPADs.
Other issues are emerging… but that’s another story!
Seine-Eure Archives Center
Regularly, find an article written in partnership with the Pôle Archives de l’Agglomération Seine-Eure. Objective: to highlight the treasures of the archives through local stories and anecdotes that shed light on events from our past.
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