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Hôpital Général de Québec
Only one year after receiving
letters patent from Louis XIV to erect a general hospital in Québec,
Msgr de Saint-Vallier, the Bishop of Québec, built his hospital
on 100 arpents of land owned by the Récollets on the edge
of the Saint-Charles river. On April 1 of this same year, 1693,
the nuns from the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec took possession
of the hospital, making it their first foundation since their arrival
in 1639. |
Gallipots from the Jesuit College of Québec
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Military surgical instruments |
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Msgr de Saint-Vallier, who
resided at the Hôpital Général from 1713 to
1727, was eventually buried there under the sanctuary. The hospital
also preserves precious relics dating from the early days of the
colony. Many representatives of the French and British nobility,
as well as 500 soldiers who died at the Battle of the Plains of
Abraham in 1759, lie in a cemetery adjoining the hospital.
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Pewter pitcher, tray and nursing bottle |
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| Whereas the hôtels-Dieu
of the 17th and 18th centuries were dedicated to the care of body
and soul, the primary purpose of the general hospitals was to attend
to marginalized people of all sorts. The Hôpital Général
de Québec was no exception. The bishop reported that the
general hospital specialized, although not exclusively, in the care
of invalids, the infirm, the mentally ill and prostitutes. Care
was subsequently expanded to the general population. |
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The Museum
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Amerindian
crafts
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Since
1960 this 300-year-old institution that is the Hôpital Général
de Québec has been complemented by a museum which is the
property of the Augustines de la Miséricorde de Jésus.
The Augustines occupy the monastery of Notre-Dame des Anges, situated
in an adjacent building. The museum houses rich collections from
the 17th and 18th centuries, some of which are unique in North America.
Among its displays are a remarkable collection of gallipots (medicine
containers), numerous birchbark objects made by the Amerindians
and decorated with embroidery of moose and porcupine hair, a few
famous sculptures by the Levasseur brothers, silverware and porcelain
brought from France by the founder, Msgr de Saint-Vallier, and various
other curiosities produced by resident girls between 1725 and 1868.
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