THE SALTPETER WORKS PLACE (La Salpêtrière)
This hospital owes its name to the arsenal built under King Louis Xlll
to manufacture gun powder with saltpeter. In April of 1656, Louis XlV
signed a decree establishing the building of a general hospital witch
would take care of the to many poor persons, orphans and beggars of
the capital. The hospital complex would be composed of a few
buildings: "LaPitié" (the pity) for children, "Bicêtre" (?) for male
adults and "La Salpêtrière" (saltpeter works) for female adults. In
1662 the institution already had more than 10,000 residents. In 1660,
Liberal Bruant started the extension works on the old arsenal (to
become the Salpêtrière). These works were later carried out by Le Vau,
who saw quite big, for he wanted to double the floor space of the
actual building. This hospital complex is of particular interest to
us. Most of the young women called at the time "filles du Roy" (King's
daughters), who were sent to Canada between 1663 and 1673, following a
request from Jean Talon, came from this complex. Those candidates were
given a dowry by the King to help settle themselves in Canada.
In 1684, King Louis XlV had an independent section added to the
"Salpêtrière". This added section was built for girls under detention
at the request of their husband or their families, as allowed by the
laws of those times…..
The name "Salpêtrière" given to this prison and immortalized by the
priest Prévost in his book "Manon Lescaux", gave a false impression as
to witch building should really bear the name. In fact, the name
belonged to the dwelling for poor but honest young women and not to
the prison witch boarded "Manon Lescaux" and more criminalized women
in the book. This famous prison did not yet even exist when these
young women were offered to go to Canada and help in the settlement of
this new country.
According to Yves Landry, demography specialist, in his most recent
survey, the total number of girls sent to Canada is equal to 770 from
witch 737 directly contributed to the establishment of a family.
Catherine Renusson, however, came from Normandy in 1676 therefore, not
in the 10 year period of the "filles du Roy". We know by her marriage
contract that she was sheltered by the daughters of the congregation
on November the 23rd, 1676, when, at the age of 22, she married
Vincent Chamaillard, a 33 year old sabot maker and ploughman who came
to Canada from Poitou in France in 1665. This couple had 7 children.
She will marry two more times without children, once in 1689 with
Augustin Alonza and in 1709 with Gilles Gautreau.
