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General Hospital of Paris

Paris, France

The General Hospital of Paris (Hôpital général de Paris) was an Ancien Régime institution intended as a place of confinement of the poor. Formed by a royal edict during the reign of Louis XIV, it aimed to address the recurring problem of begging and the Cour des miracles, as well as to house invalids. The General Hospital's authority stretched beyond its premises to include all the poor in Paris. The hospital serves as a major point of analysis in philosopher Michel Foucault's seminal work, Madness and Civilization.

Hospital data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Other hospitals in France