Abstract EN:

Among all categories of children, orphans have seldom been studied and the sources which would substantiate such research are extremely fragmented. This study's first purpose is to depict the orphan's condition, from a demographic and legal point of view. Then, it will focus on the possibilities that were available to them: being raised by a foster family, wandering around the city or resorting to organized assistance. However, the study is centered around assistance and education establishments in Paris from the sixteenth century to the eighteenth century. It aims at answering three major questions: should sending children to such institutions be equated with abandoning them? Are the charitable institutions of the time to be considered as mere orphanages, in the modern sense of the word, that is to say as institutions in charge of the collective education of parentless children? How much did they do for the children they had in their care? Institutions for orphaned children first appeared in Paris in the sixteenth century, at a time when hospitals started specializing, and they were abolished during the French Revolution which ushered in the "assistance publique" system, the strict centralized organization of the country and the separation between homes and hospitals. Between the sixteenth century and the eighteenth century, there were about ten such institutions and they formed a consistent group although each of them kept its own "identity". They insisted on being distinguished from "hopitaux-généraux" and on protecting their residents, legitimate children who still had relatives or abandoned children whose origins were uncertain. Durable ties built up between, on the one hand the institution and the orphan who became its ward and on the other hand the relatives and the administrators of the institutions who worked hand in hand. The relationship between the orphan and his kin endured and invalidates the theory of disguised abandon. In fact, the means implemented were more sizeable than those brought into play in bigger assistance homes. Not only were there fewer children but they were better taken care of and the material conditions were satisfactory thanks to the building up of a sound real estate property. Finally, administrators were concerned about preparing their wards for the future: school education, housework and vocational training were the three main aspects of this education.