Hospices de Beaune

Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune

 

Courtyard of Hôtel-Dieu
The Hôtel-Dieu is a former hospital in Beaune. It was founded in 1443 and was used as a hospital until 1971. The Hôtel-Dieu is now part of the building complex of the Hospices Civils de Beaune. Today, parts of the old complex are used as a retirement home, while the rest can be viewed as a museum, providing an interesting insight into early modern nursing.

 

History

Rogier van der Weyden:

Nicolas Rolin
After the Hundred Years War, people in the Côte-d'Or region suffered from oppressive poverty. Many were threatened with starvation. In the small town of Beaune, almost three-quarters of its inhabitants were threatened, as they had become destitute because of the war. Seeking her own salvation, Nicolas Rolin and his wife Guigone de Salins decided to donate a hospital here:
I, Nicolas Rolin, Ritter, Bürger von Autun, Lord of Authume and Chancellor of Burgundy, this Sunday, the 4th day of the month of August, in the year of the Lord 1443, in the interest of my soul salvation, striving to change earthly gifts against God's gifts, I found, and irrevocably leave to the city Beaune, a hospital for the poor, with a chapel in honor of God and his glorious mother
The foundation stone was laid by the chancellor of the Burgundian Duke Philip the Good, Nicolas Rolin, in 1443, as is still documented today at the entrance portal. On January 1, 1452, the hospital receives its first patient.
Rolin provides the hospital with 1000 Tourainer pounds of annual annuity based on the profit of the "Big Saline". from Salins. The management of the institution is responsible for a "maître"; this in turn has a community of & quot; pious women & quot; to lead the "Béguines venues de Malines", who then receive their religious rule in 1459. The order of spiritual life is entrusted to two chaplains, and finally Chancellor Rolin himself monitors the evolution of the "Hôtel-Dieu". After his death in 1461, his wife, Guigone de Salins, will ensure the continued well-being of the hospital.
Thanks to the generosity of many inhabitants of the region, this hospital has been given impressive landed property over time. In addition, the allocation of the property of surrounding smaller hospitals in the 17th century has further improved the financial resources of the hospice. Over the centuries, therefore, numerous rebuilding and extensions took place, whereby the late medieval appearance, however, was not affected until today. The main buildings (north and south wings) date back to the 15th century. The side wings, respecting the existing medieval architecture, were added in the 17th and 18th centuries, so that the ensemble forms a quadrangle that surrounds the courtyard. Three of the buildings were thus built in the style of the Renaissance. Particularly striking are the colorful roofs, which consist of different colored terracotta tiles that were glazed. There are numerous skylights on the roofs. The late-Gothic entrance building stands in stark contrast with its gray stones and slate roof.
Until the 20th century, the elderly, the disabled, the wise, the sick, the woman giving birth and the needy come to the institution.