Maux, remèdes et… allocation chômage ? Le rôle caché des hôpitaux genevois
L'épisode en bref
Bienvenue sur « Vraiment Calvin, est-ce là une vie idéale ? Un podcast historique ». Dans l'épisode d'aujourd'hui, nous nous plongerons dans quelques extraits fascinants d'une étude universitaire française qui explore en profondeur l'histoire des hospices de Genève pendant la Réforme, une période où les choses changeaient plus vite qu'il ne faut pour dire « Jean Calvin ».
À partir des archives genevoises, véritable mine d'or composée de registres poussiéreux du Conseil, de livres comptables et de documents notariés, l'auteur reconstitue le puzzle pour déterminer combien il y avait d'hospices, où ils se trouvaient et comment ils fonctionnaient avant et pendant cette période de bouleversements religieux et politiques.
À travers cette étude, quelques confusions historiques sont éclaircies (car même les historiens doivent vérifier leurs sources) et nous obtenons une vision claire de la manière dont le système d’aide sociale de Genève a été remodelé pour s’adapter à la nouvelle réalité protestante. Alors, préparez-vous à découvrir comment le soin apporté aux pauvres, aux bourgeois locaux et aux voyageurs fatigués a été sérieusement réinventé dans la Genève du XVIe siècle, sans recours à aucune potion miraculeuse.
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Script
Speaker #0 - You know, when we think about Geneva around the time of the Reformation, 16th century, Calvin often comes to mind, right? Big debates.
Speaker #1 - Yeah. The theological shifts.
Speaker #0 - But what about like the everyday stuff, the city's institutions? Today, we're diving into Geneva's hospitals during that transition. It's, well, it's pretty fascinating.
Speaker #1 - It really is. And often overlooked, I think. These places were changing dramatically. Our main guide here is Christophe Chazalon's work on the hospitals at this turning point.
Speaker #0 - Right. "Les hôpitaux de Genève au tournant de la Réformation".
Speaker #1 - Exactly. And we'll bring in some context from broader medieval studies, too, like Duparc-Hermann, just to paint a picture.
Speaker #0 - OK, so the mission today is to sort of untangle this history of the hospitals right before and during the early Reformation. It can get a bit confusing.
Speaker #1 - It definitely can.
Speaker #0 - So first off, the sheer number of hospitals. I pictured maybe one or two, you know.
Speaker #1 - Yeah, that's a common thought. But the sources, like Chaponnière and Sordet, they suggest... maybe two before the mid-1300s. But then, almost boom, three more pop up pretty much simultaneously, which probably points to, you know, population growth, maybe more foreigners coming in.
Speaker #0 - And it didn't stop there, did it?
Speaker #1 - No. In the 15th century, another two were founded, thanks to a generous citizen.
Speaker #0 - Wow. So by 1535, right when things are really heating up with the Reformation?
Speaker #1 - We're looking at at least nine hospitals under Geneva's control. Some earlier accounts said seven, but Chazalon finds more.
Speaker #0 - Including a tenth one?
Speaker #1 - Yes, the Hopital du Temple, also called Saint-Jean-de-Jérusalem. It was down in Eaux-Vives.
Speaker #0 - Okay, so way more than you'd initially guess.
Speaker #1 - Definitely. And another thing to keep in mind, something Chazalon stresses is the names. They weren't fixed.
Speaker #0 - Ah, that's bound to cause confusion.
Speaker #1 - Exactly. A single hospital might have two, three, even more names, depending on the benefactor or the time period. It makes tracking them tricky.
Speaker #0 - Right. So let's maybe look at a few key ones before everything got centralized into the Hopital General.
Speaker #1 - Good idea. Where should we start? How about the Hopiral de Notre-Dame de Pont-du-Rhône, also called Saint-Gervais?
Speaker #0 - Okay, where was that one?
Speaker #1 - "En rue de la Cité". Now, it was linked in name to the Chapelle de Notre-Dame du Pont-du-Rhône.
Speaker #0 - The chapel.
Speaker #1 - Right, they weren't attached. Often confused, though.
Speaker #0 - And the chapel itself has a history?
Speaker #1 - Oh, yeah. Possibly an old defensive tower, 11th, 13th century, near the bridge. Weird orientation, too, not facing east. Later, wealthy Italians, Florentines, revamped it, became the Chapelle des Florentins.
Speaker #0 - But it didn't survive.
Speaker #1 - No, torn down in 1541. City fortifications needed the space. Records show payments for demolition and all that.
Speaker #0 - But the hospital itself, it wasn't right there.
Speaker #1 - No, this is interesting. It was actually about 60 meters upstream from the famous chapel.
Speaker #0 - Huh! So easy to get wrong.
Speaker #1 - Very. And after the Reformation, it wasn't needed in the same way, so it was sold off in 1537.
Speaker #0 - Okay. What about another big one? Maybe the Hôpital de Notre-Dame et Saint-Georges.
Speaker #1 - Ah, yes. Also known as du Bourg-de-Four or de Saint-Jeoire or de Bolomier. See the name thing again?
Speaker #0 - Uh-huh. Yeah, definitely. Where was this one?
Speaker #1 - Rue Verdaine, right next to the Sainte-Claire convent. And this location is key.
Speaker #0 - Why is that?
Speaker #1 - Because in November 1535, this is the very spot that became the Hôpital General.
Speaker #0 - Yeah. Okay. The seed of the central hospital.
Speaker #1 - Precisely. Its multiple names likely reflect different founders or benefactors, like maybe Mathieu Clarié, Émance Bonjoir, Guillaume Bolomier. The council even had a say in appointing the Hospitallier the manager.
Speaker #0 - And it grew over time.
Speaker #1 - Yes. There was expansion around it in the mid-15th century, tied into the founding of that Sainte-Claire convent next door. Land donations, purchases.
Speaker #0 - Okay. Any others we should quickly mention from before the big merge?
Speaker #1 - Well, there was the Hôpital de Saint-Bernard-du-Monjoux, or Saint-Nicolas, on Rue Saint-Antoine. Its story pre-Reformation is fairly short, sold in 1536 to a Pierre Tissot who built a house there.
Speaker #0 - Got it. What about the Hôpital de l'Eucharistie? That one sounds intriguing. Lots of names, too.
Speaker #1 - Yes. Also called by François de Versonnex, de la Fête-Dieu, des pauvres honteux or vergogneux, even du Saint-Esprit sometimes, near the Rive convent.
Speaker #0 - And it had a specific purpose.
Speaker #1 - It did. Founded in 1434 by François de Versonnex, specifically for the "pauvres honteux".
Speaker #0 - The shameful poor.
Speaker #1 - Exactly. People from, you know, privileged backgrounds who'd fallen on hard times and were ashamed to beg. Managed by a merchant confraternity.
Speaker #0 - That's just quite a nuanced approach to poverty, even back then.
Speaker #1 - It really does. After the Reformation, the name shifted more towards pauvres vergogneux, but the concept remained for a while.
Speaker #0 - So this idea of consolidating hospitals. It wasn't totally new in 1535.
Speaker #1 - No, there were earlier attempts, apparently in 1508 and 1531, but they failed. It took the momentum of the Reformation, really.
Speaker #0 - For the Grand Conseil to finally decide, OK, we need just two main ones.
Speaker #1 - Right. The General Hospital using the Sainte-Claire convent buildings.
Speaker #0 - Which was right next to the old Hôpital de Notre-Dame et Saint-Georges we mentioned.
Speaker #1 - Exactly. And then the plan was to keep Saint-Jacques for the passing poor travelers.
Speaker #0 - So what happened to the Femmes vergognieuses from the Hôpital de l'Eucharistie? Did they move straight to the General Hospital?
Speaker #1 - Well, that was the plan in 1536. But it seems they didn't move immediately. Records show they were still in their original hospital until at least January 1540. The transition wasn't always instant.
Speaker #0 - So gradual changes.
Speaker #1 - Yeah. Eventually, their hospital was sold in June 1541, and the remaining women were moved then.
Speaker #0 - And what about the Hôpital de Saint-Antoine et Saint-Sebastien near La Madeleine, also founded by Versonnex?
Speaker #1 - That one, too, seems to have had a gradual phase-out. There's evidence of repairs happening in 1539-1540.
Speaker #0 - So still in use after the main decision?
Speaker #1 - Apparently. And people were even renting rooms there between 1539 and 1542. So not a sudden closure, more of a winding down.
Speaker #0 - It paints a complex picture, doesn't it? All these different places, different purposes slowly being brought together.
Speaker #1 - Absolutely. It shows the existing social fabric before the Reformation reshaped it.
Speaker #0 - So late 1535, the big decision, create the Hôpital General, consolidate.
Speaker #1 - Yes. And as we said, Saint-Jacques-du-Pont-du-Rhône was initially earmarked for travelers, though Another hospital seems to have played that role, too, at least for a time.
Speaker #0 - Which one was that?
Speaker #1 - The Hôpital de la Trinité, which got renamed Hôpital du Saint-Esprit after the Reformation.
Speaker #0 - Okay, tell me about that one.
Speaker #1 - Founded around the mid-15th century, likely by the Confrérie de la Sainte-Trinité. Though there's a mention of an earlier donation back in 1360.
Speaker #0 - But after the Reformation.
Speaker #1 - It was renamed Saint-Esprit. And it definitely continued to function. We see records of people being housed there at the city's expense, like Jacques Chapuis.
Speaker #0 - So maybe it took over that role for passing poor instead of Saint-Jacques.
Speaker #1 - It seems possible, or at least shared it. They even leased out its chapel for a while before deciding in 1550 to renovate the chapel specifically to house passing poor.
Speaker #0 - But it didn't last forever.
Speaker #1 - No, it was sold off just two years later, in 1552.
Speaker #0 - Why sell it if they'd just renovated part of it?
Speaker #1 - Well, Chazalon floats the idea that maybe the city needed the money. Or perhaps the Hôpital General needed more space itself for the growing number of poor. This is also the period after Calvin's influence on poor relief really solidifies.
Speaker #0 - Ah, interesting link. So political and religious shifts influencing property decisions.
Speaker #1 - Plausibly, yes.
Speaker #0 - And Saint-Jacques-du-Pont-de-Rhône, the one originally planned for travelers, what happened there?
Speaker #1 - That one had been around since 1359, near the old bridge gate. But despite the initial plan, ...
Speaker #0 - It got repurposed.
Speaker #1 - ... Completely. By 1543, it had become the Geneva Mint.
Speaker #0 - The Mint. Okay, that's a definite change of function.
Speaker #1 - Shows the city adapting its assets, doesn't it?
Speaker #0 - It does. We should probably also mention the Boîte de Toutes Âmes.
Speaker #1 - Ah, the Alms Box. Yes, crucial.
Speaker #0 - This is the main channel for public charity, wasn't it? Collections and churches, etc.
Speaker #1 - Exactly. Throughout the city and nearby areas. And importantly, after the Reformation, the properties and funds associated with this box likely got folded into supporting the new Hôpital General.
Speaker #0 - So a key source of funding for the centralized system.
Speaker #1 - Very likely. And Hôpital General also took immediate responsibility for orphans and some illegitimate children. Centralization in action.
Speaker #0 - Okay, one more major institution, the plague hospital. Hôpital de Notre-Dame de la Miséricorde.
Speaker #1 - Or Hôpital des pestiferés. A grim necessity. This one was relatively newer, late 15th century.
Speaker #0 - Founded after a vow.
Speaker #1 - Yes, the syndics, the city magistrates, vowed in 1469, during an outbreak, to build one out in Plainpalais.
Speaker #0 - Was it always open?
Speaker #1 - No, only activated when the plague hit. But after the Reformation, strict rules came in, like mandatory burials in its cemetery during outbreaks.
Speaker #0 - Must have been incredibly difficult to run.
Speaker #1 - Unimaginably. Staffing was a nightmare. Records show immense difficulty keeping hospitaliers, barbers who acted as surgeons, and even... ministers.
Speaker #0 - Ministers were reluctant?
Speaker #1 - Oh yes! There's a famous uh dramatic episode where ministers basically refused to go citing various reasons even Sebastien Castellion was considered but didn't end up going wow they eventually ordained a minister specifically for the plague hospital Pierre Blanchet but he caught the plague almost immediately and died.
Speaker #0 - Just horrific. Shows the sheer terror the plague inspired.
Speaker #1 - Absolutely they had ordinances for running the place based on older models But managing it during an outbreak was just chaos and survival.
Speaker #0 - A stark reminder of the realities of the time.
Speaker #1 - Definitely puts things in perspective.
Speaker #0 - Briefly, there were others too, right? Like the Temple Hospital.
Speaker #1 - Yes, the Hôpital du Temple, or Saint-Jean-de-Jerusalem in Eaux-Vives. Origins with the Knights Templar, then the Hospitallers.
Speaker #0 - Did it function as a hospital right up to the Reformation?
Speaker #1 - Probably not really. By the 15th century, it seems it was more of a religious and administrative center for their lands. Its church outside the walls was destroyed in 1534 during political tensions.
Speaker #0 - And after the Reformation?
Speaker #1 - Disputes between Geneva and Bern over its properties and tithes. It wasn't really an active hospital then.
Speaker #0 - And there was one in Marlioz. Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur is Saint-Antoine-l'Ermite.
Speaker #1 - Right. Some thought its fate was unknown after 1539. But Chazalon shows the Geneva Council was still involved. ordering inspections in the 1540s. Its chapel fell into ruin later, but has actually been restored.
Speaker #0 - Okay. And finally, the maladières, leprosy hospitals.
Speaker #1 - Yes, older institutions. Carouge and Chêne. Lepers had strict rules, confinement. After the Reformation, responsibility was split. Geneva managed Carouge. Bern managed Chêne.
Speaker #0 - Were they full?
Speaker #1 - Often kept closed, actually, to save money, as there weren't many lepers. There were disputes about admitting new ones in the late 1530s, early 1540s. Shows the practical difficulties.
Speaker #0 - Right. So wrapping this up, it's clear the Reformation wasn't just about theology in Geneva. It profoundly reshaped the city's social welfare system.
Speaker #1 - Absolutely. You go from this diverse, sometimes confusing landscape of many small, specialized institutions.
Speaker #0 - Each with its own story, its own founders.
Speaker #1 - To a much more centralized approach, focused on the whole general. But it wasn't always a clean sudden break.
Speaker #0 - No, we saw that gradual change, the continued use of some older places for a time.
Speaker #1 - And behind all these institutional shifts are, you know, human stories. The people who founded these places, the Paul Verlaine II, the plague victims, the staff struggling in horrific conditions.
Speaker #0 - It really makes you think about how those big religious and political changes directly impacted the most vulnerable people on the ground, how care was actually delivered.
Speaker #1 - Yeah, what does this shift tell us about the priorities of the time, the values?
Speaker #0 - Maybe a final thought for our listeners. How might the consolidation under the Hôpital general, perhaps influenced by figures like Calvin, have changed the experience of being poor or sick in Geneva? Was it better, worse, just different? Something to ponder?
Speaker #1 - Definitely. Comparing it to how other cities handled similar changes during the Reformation could be revealing, too.
Sources
Le document aborde également d’autres institutions caritatives, telles que l’Hôpital des pestiférés, dont la gestion et le personnel furent durement éprouvés lors des épidémies de peste, ainsi que l’Hôpital de Marlioz, fort éloigné de la cité et dont le statut et la dépendance envers Genève après la Réforme sont précisés. Enfin, une partie de l’étude est consacrée aux léproseries du Chêne et de Carouge, examinant leurs règlements et leur évolution après l’indépendance genevoise. L’auteur souligne la différence entre la théorie réglementaire et la pratique réelle, notant que les lépreux étaient parfois autorisés à circuler en ville.
En conclusion, cette étude éclaire la complexité et la transformation du paysage hospitalier genevois à l’époque de Calvin. Elle souligne la nécessité de recherches approfondies et systématiques dans les sources primaires conservées aux Archives d’État de Genève, ainsi que dans d’autres collections archivistiques potentielles, pour parvenir à une compréhension rénovée et plus précise de cette période cruciale de l’histoire de la ville.
Et quelques pistes à suivre...
Voici quelques façons d’élargir vos connaissances et de découvrir d’autres archives :
- Judith AZIZA, "Soigner et être soigné à l'Hôtel-Dieu de Marseille aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles", Rives méditerranéennes, n° varia, 2007, online web
- Esther CHUNG-KIM, "Pious City: community and charity in Calvin's Geneva", Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte / Archive for Reformation history, vol. 113, n° 1, pp. 168-197 web
- Alice BRIOD, L'assistance et les pauvres dans le Pays de Vaud du commencement du Moyen Âge à la fin du XVIe siècle, Lausanne (CH), Éditions Spes, 1926, 162 p.; Reprint: Lausanne (FR), Éditions d'en bas, 1976, 120 p.
- Jean-Jacques CHAPONNIÈRE / Louis SORDET, "Des hôpitaux de Genève avant la Réformation", Mémoires et documents publiés par la SHAG, vol. 3, 1844, pp. 165-471
- Jean-Jacques CHAPONNIÈRE, "Des léproseries de Genève au XVIe siècle", Mémoires et documents publiés par la SHAG, vol. 1, 1841, pp. 101-134
- Pierre-Yves DONZÉ, Bâtir, gérer, soigner. Histoire des établissements hospitaliers de Suisse romande, Genève, Georg / ADEHR, 2003, 367 p. web
- Claire GARNIER, Soins des corps, soin des âmes: genre et pouvoirs dans les hôpitaux de France et de Nouvelle-France aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, Clermont-Ferrand (FR): Université Blaise Pascal, 2015, 345 p.; PhD Thesis web
- Jean-Pierre GUTTON, "Les pauvres face à leur pauvreté: le cas français 1500-1800*, in Thomas RIIS, ed., Aspects of poverty in Early Modern Europe, Odense: Odense University Press, 1986, t. II, pp.: 89-104: reed. J.-P. GUTTON, Pauvreté, cultures et ordre social, Lyon (FR): LAHRA, 2006, online web
- Paule HOCHULI-DUBOIS, Assistance et assistés à l'Hôpital général de Genève à la fin du XVIe siècle: les pauvres des régions limitrophes (1582-1592), Paris, École des Chartes, 1991, n/a p.: thesis
- Robert M. KINGDON, "Social Welfare in Calvin's Geneva", The American historical review, vol. 76, n° 1, 1971, pp. 50-69 web
- Douglas K. KUIPER, "The diaconal care of non-poor christians (3). The example of Calvin's Geneva: the Funds", The Standard Bearer: a reformed semi-monthly magazine, vol. 82, n° 14, pp. 320-322 web
- Daniel LE BLEVEC, La part du pauvre. L'assistance dans les pays du Bas-Rhône du XIIe siècle au milieu du XVe siècle, Rome, École française de Rome, 2000, 2 vol. 960 p.
- Bernard LESCAZE, Sauver l'âme, nourrir le corps: de l'Hôpital général à l'Hospice général de Genève, 1535-1985, Genève, Hospice général , 1985, 429 p.
- Joseph MORSEL, "Les pauvres gens (arme Leute) en Haute-Allemagne à la fin du Moyen Âge ou: une histoire des petites gens a-t-elle un sens?", in Pierre BOGLIONI / Robert DELORT / Claude GAUVARD, eds., Le petit peuple dans l'Occident médiéval, Paris, Éditions de la Sorbonne, 2002, pp. 153-172 web
- Takakani A. MUSWUBI, "Reviewing Calvin's eradication strategy to poverty biblically from a Missio Dei perspective", In die Skriflig / In luce verbi, vol. 57, n° 1, 2023, online web
- Jeannine E. OLSON, "The care of the poor in Calvin's Geneva", in [Seminar at the Korean Institute for Reformed Studies], n.d., pp. 27-48 web
- Aurore-Diane SIMON, Implantations, activités et relations des établissements d'assistance en Bourgogne à la fin du Moyen Âge, Dijon (FR), Université de Bourgogne, 2012, 3 t., 645 p.: PhD Thesis web
Projet RCnum
Ce podcast de vulgarisation historique est développé dans le cadre du projet interdisciplinaire intitulé « Édition sémantique et multilingue en ligne des Registres du Conseil de Genève / 1545-1550 » (RCnum) et développé par l'Université de Genève (UNIGE), grâce à un financement du Fonds national suisse de la recherche scientifique (FNS).