Conférence : La pauvreté en France du Moyen Âge à la Révolution

By Christiane Benhamou, PhD in Art History, tour guide, specializing in historical tours of major Parisian hospitals (Salpêtrière, Bicêtre, etc.). From the Middle Ages onward, peasants lived in extreme poverty, leading them to wander the roads or into towns, reduced to vagrancy and begging. The problem reached its peak in the 17th century, particularly in Paris, where some organized the infamous Courts of Miracles. In 1656, the General Hospital was established to house them and, later, to forcibly confine them. This institution persisted until the French Revolution, housing the poor, prostitutes, common criminals, and the mentally ill.

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