Madelonnettes Convent
Encyclopedia
The Madelonnettes Convent (couvent des Madelonnettes) was a Paris convent in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. It was located in what is now a rectangle between 6 rue des Fontaines du Temple (where there are the remains of one of its walls), rue Volta and rue du Vertbois, and part of its site is now occupied by the lycée Turgot. As the Madelonnettes Prison (prison des Madelonnettes) during the French Revolution
, its prisoners included the writers the Marquis de Sade
and Nicolas Chamfort
, the politician Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville and the actor Dazincourt
.
Father Athanase Molé and M. de Fresne (an officer of the Gardes du Corps du Roi and a friend of Saint Vincent de Paul among others), Montry worked to spread his charitable work to other prostitutes. Quickly overtaken by their success, at first they rented rooms in the faubourg Saint-Honoré, before Robert de Montry lent them a house he owned in the quartier de la Croix-Rouge. A chapel for the house was improvised, served by Benedictines from Saint-Germain des Prés.
The idea of creating an actual convent was down to the patronage of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul and the generosity of the Marquise de Maignelay (née Claude-Marguerite de Gondi, sister of Jean-François de Gondi
, archbishop of Paris
), who, on 16 July 1620, acquired from sister Dubuisson a property in rue des Fontaines, between the Abbaye Saint-Martin des Champs and the Temple fortress enclosure, and left them 101,600 livres in her will. In 1625, Louis XIII granted them 3,000 livres in rents, and they were accorded a constitution by pope Urban VIII
in 1630]. Most of the buildings were constructed in 1637, with the first chapel inaugurated by Anne of Austria
on 22 March 1648 and a church built from 1680 onwards and consecrated on 2 September 1685.
, imprisoned there in 1657 at the request of Anne of Austria, now queen-mother (though according to Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux
, Ninon did not remain there long, so strong was the pressure of her gallants that gathered around the convent to demand her release). A number of them came from rich families who the convent a large pension. It was thus necessary therefore to strengthen the supervision, which was confided in turn to four sisters of the Visitation of Saint-Antoine (1629–1677), the Ursulines
(1677–1720) and finally to the nuns of Saint-Michel (1720 onwards), renowned for their severity.
The convent at its peak housed 165 pensionnaires, organized in three orders, each with a separate building:
of 13 February 1790 abolishing convents, a last inventory of the convent's goods and income was carried out on 17 March that same year. Though the convent officially closed in 1790, the nuns were only dispersed by stages, since a new mother-superior and bursar were named on 21 March 1791.
In the face of a new wave of imprisonments, in 1793 the convent buildings were converted into a prison for political prisoners and common criminals, with its first prisoners arriving on 4 April under the direction of the commissaire Marino and the concierge Vaubertrand. The tempo of arrests quickened from May 1793 (up to 47 a day) and this led to overcrowding, with a prison only originally meant for 200 people housing up to 319 by 27 Messidor
, crammed into cells only 5 square foot (0.4645152 m²) each. Common criminals, nicknamed "les pailleux", were held on the ground floor, with people of varying origins referred to as "suspects". Despite the crowded conditions, the mood was good, with improvised poems, singing, music-making and gymnastics, all under the jailors' eyes, but despite this, the prison regime was hard and insanitary. Commissaire Marino forbade prisoners to go into the courtyard, under the pretext that their detention was only provisional whilst they were awaiting transfer to another location. Promiscuity favoured the spread of infectious diseases such as smallpox
, which claimed several victims.
At the end of December 1793, the political prisoners were moved to (among others) the Port-Libre, Picpus
, and Saint-Lazare
prisons, and the common criminals were sent to Bicêtre. Little by little the Madelonnettes was emptied of prisoners after the events of Thermidor
, and it reopened in 1795 as a women's prison for female criminals and debtors and young women shut up for correction by their fathers (as an annex to the prison Saint Lazare). An image of the prison can be seen in a painting by Louis Léopold Boilly now at the Musée Carnavalet.
for men on their way to La Force. In the wake of the 1848 Revolution large numbers of politicians were imprisoned here, and in 1865-1866 the Madelonnettes was finally demolished by Haussmann
to build the rue de Turbigo (in works which were photographed by Charles Marville
) and replaced by the still existing Prison de la Santé.
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, its prisoners included the writers the Marquis de Sade
Marquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
and Nicolas Chamfort
Nicolas Chamfort
Nicolas Chamfort was a French writer, best known for his witty epigrams and aphorisms. He was secretary of Louis XVI's sister, and of the Jacobin club.-Life:...
, the politician Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville and the actor Dazincourt
Dazincourt
Joseph-Jean-Baptiste Albouy , stage name Dazincourt, was a French actor.-Life:Educated by the Oratorians, Dazincourt entered the service of the maréchal de Richelieu in 1766 and had a taste of acting in comedies of manners...
.
Origins
Its origins date back to 1618, when the wine merchant Robert de Montry - after being rebuffed by the local prostitutes in his attempts to reform them - finally decided to put them back to the right path whilst being accommodated in his own home. With the aid of M. Du Pont (curé of Saint-Nicolas des Champs), the CapuchinOrder of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
Father Athanase Molé and M. de Fresne (an officer of the Gardes du Corps du Roi and a friend of Saint Vincent de Paul among others), Montry worked to spread his charitable work to other prostitutes. Quickly overtaken by their success, at first they rented rooms in the faubourg Saint-Honoré, before Robert de Montry lent them a house he owned in the quartier de la Croix-Rouge. A chapel for the house was improvised, served by Benedictines from Saint-Germain des Prés.
The idea of creating an actual convent was down to the patronage of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul and the generosity of the Marquise de Maignelay (née Claude-Marguerite de Gondi, sister of Jean-François de Gondi
Jean-François de Gondi
Jean-François de Gondi was the first archbishop of Paris, from 1622 to 1654.He was the son of Albert de Gondi and Claude Catherine de Clermont. He was a member of the Gondi family, which had held the bishopric of Paris for nearly a century, and would continue to do so after him. Jean-François...
, archbishop of Paris
Archbishop of Paris
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris is one of twenty-three archdioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been created in the 3rd century by St. Denis and corresponded with the Civitas Parisiorum; it was elevated to an archdiocese on...
), who, on 16 July 1620, acquired from sister Dubuisson a property in rue des Fontaines, between the Abbaye Saint-Martin des Champs and the Temple fortress enclosure, and left them 101,600 livres in her will. In 1625, Louis XIII granted them 3,000 livres in rents, and they were accorded a constitution by pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...
in 1630]. Most of the buildings were constructed in 1637, with the first chapel inaugurated by Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria was Queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish Infanta by birth...
on 22 March 1648 and a church built from 1680 onwards and consecrated on 2 September 1685.
History
This large gathering of sinners freely choosing the way of redemption slowly evolved into a more classical convent establishment in which women or girls suspected of misconduct would be confined on the orders of the king, judges or even just at their family's request, the most famous example being the courtesan Ninon de l'EnclosNinon de l'Enclos
Anne "Ninon" de l'Enclos also spelled Ninon de Lenclos and Ninon de Lanclos was a French author, courtesan and patron of the arts.-Early life:...
, imprisoned there in 1657 at the request of Anne of Austria, now queen-mother (though according to Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux
Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux
Gédéon Tallemant, Sieur des Réaux was a French writer known for his Historiettes, a collection of short biographies.-Biography:...
, Ninon did not remain there long, so strong was the pressure of her gallants that gathered around the convent to demand her release). A number of them came from rich families who the convent a large pension. It was thus necessary therefore to strengthen the supervision, which was confided in turn to four sisters of the Visitation of Saint-Antoine (1629–1677), the Ursulines
Ursulines
The Ursulines are a Roman Catholic religious order for women founded at Brescia, Italy, by Saint Angela de Merici in November 1535, primarily for the education of girls and the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint is Saint Ursula.-History:St Angela de Merici spent 17 years leading a...
(1677–1720) and finally to the nuns of Saint-Michel (1720 onwards), renowned for their severity.
The convent at its peak housed 165 pensionnaires, organized in three orders, each with a separate building:
- the actual sisters of Sainte Madeleine, after taking their solemn vows, white habit;
- the sisters of Saint' Marthe, after taking their basic vows, grey habit - these could move up to the order of Sainte Madeleine after two years in the novitiate ;
- the sisters of Saint Lazare, who had taken no vows and were generally held here against their will, in secular dress but with their face concealed by a black taffetaTaffetaTaffeta is a crisp, smooth plain woven fabric made from silk or synthetic fibers. The word is Persian in origin, and means "twisted woven." It is considered to be a "high end" fabric, suitable for use in ball gowns, wedding dresses, and in interiors for curtains or wallcovering. There are two...
veil.
French Revolution
After the decree of the National AssemblyNational Assembly
National Assembly is either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. The best known National Assembly, and the first legislature to be known by this title, was that established during the French Revolution in 1789, known as the Assemblée nationale...
of 13 February 1790 abolishing convents, a last inventory of the convent's goods and income was carried out on 17 March that same year. Though the convent officially closed in 1790, the nuns were only dispersed by stages, since a new mother-superior and bursar were named on 21 March 1791.
In the face of a new wave of imprisonments, in 1793 the convent buildings were converted into a prison for political prisoners and common criminals, with its first prisoners arriving on 4 April under the direction of the commissaire Marino and the concierge Vaubertrand. The tempo of arrests quickened from May 1793 (up to 47 a day) and this led to overcrowding, with a prison only originally meant for 200 people housing up to 319 by 27 Messidor
Messidor
Messidor was the tenth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word messis, which means harvest....
, crammed into cells only 5 square foot (0.4645152 m²) each. Common criminals, nicknamed "les pailleux", were held on the ground floor, with people of varying origins referred to as "suspects". Despite the crowded conditions, the mood was good, with improvised poems, singing, music-making and gymnastics, all under the jailors' eyes, but despite this, the prison regime was hard and insanitary. Commissaire Marino forbade prisoners to go into the courtyard, under the pretext that their detention was only provisional whilst they were awaiting transfer to another location. Promiscuity favoured the spread of infectious diseases such as smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, which claimed several victims.
At the end of December 1793, the political prisoners were moved to (among others) the Port-Libre, Picpus
Coignard
The Coignard was a convent of Canonesses founded in Paris on 7 October 1647 and dedicated to Saint-Augustin de la Victoire-de-Lépante...
, and Saint-Lazare
Prison Saint-Lazare
The Prison Saint-Lazare was a prison in the Xe arrondissement of Paris, France.-History:Originally a leper hospital founded on the road from Paris to Saint-Denis at the boundary of the marshy area of former Seine river bank in the 12th century, it was ceded on 7 January 1632 to Vincent de Paul and...
prisons, and the common criminals were sent to Bicêtre. Little by little the Madelonnettes was emptied of prisoners after the events of Thermidor
Thermidor
Thermidor was the eleventh month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the French word thermal which comes from the Greek word "thermos" which means heat....
, and it reopened in 1795 as a women's prison for female criminals and debtors and young women shut up for correction by their fathers (as an annex to the prison Saint Lazare). An image of the prison can be seen in a painting by Louis Léopold Boilly now at the Musée Carnavalet.
19th century
The prison remained a women's prison until April 1831, and also had the population of other prisons transferred to it, such as the public daughters of the Petite Force (1828) and the prisoners at the Prison Sainte-Pélagie (1831). Finally all the prisoners from Prisons de la Roquette were transferred to the Madelonnettes in 1836 and it became a maison d'arrêtMaison d'arrêt
Maison d'arrêt are a category of prisons in France which hold prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing, or those being held for less than one year, similar to County Jails in the United States....
for men on their way to La Force. In the wake of the 1848 Revolution large numbers of politicians were imprisoned here, and in 1865-1866 the Madelonnettes was finally demolished by Haussmann
Haussmann's renovation of Paris
Haussmann's Renovation of Paris, or the Haussmann Plan, was a modernization program of Paris commissioned by Napoléon III and led by the Seine prefect, Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, between 1853 and 1870...
to build the rue de Turbigo (in works which were photographed by Charles Marville
Charles Marville
-Biography:Charles Marville was the pseudonym of Charles François Bossu , a French photographer who mainly photographed architecture and landscapes. He used both paper and glass negatives...
) and replaced by the still existing Prison de la Santé.
Famous prisoners
Among the "suspects" held here were :- 13 actors (the actresses were imprisoned at Sainte Pélagie) of the Théâtre Français who remained faithful to the monarchy, arrested on the night of 2 September 1793 following the production of "Pamela", a play by Nicolas-Louis François de Neufchâteau which was judged to be seditious. These included :
- Fleury
- DazincourtDazincourtJoseph-Jean-Baptiste Albouy , stage name Dazincourt, was a French actor.-Life:Educated by the Oratorians, Dazincourt entered the service of the maréchal de Richelieu in 1766 and had a taste of acting in comedies of manners...
- François Molé
- Charlotte Vanhove
- Saint-Prix
- Saint-Fal
- ancien régime administrators :
- Louis Thiroux de CrosneLouis Thiroux de CrosneLouis Thiroux de Crosne was Lieutenant général de Police, the Chief of the Police, in Paris from 1785 to the beginning of the French Revolution. He was executed on 28 April 1794 during the Reign of Terror. Prior to becoming Chief of the Police in Paris he was Intendant de la généralité of Rouen...
(the last lieutenant of police), - Anne Gabriel de Boulainvilliers ; the last provost of Paris,
- Jean-Frédéric de la Tour du Pin-GouvernetJean-Frédéric de la Tour du Pin-GouvernetJean-Frédéric de La Tour du Pin Gouvernet was a French nobleman and politician. His full titles were Comte de Paulin, Marquis de la Roche-Chalais et de Cénevières, Vicomte de Calvignac, Comte de Chastelard, Vicomte de Tesson et d’Ambleville, Baron de Cubzac, Seigneur du Cubzaguais, Seigneur de...
, ministre de la GuerreMinister of Defence (France)The Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs is the French government cabinet member charged with running the military of France....
in 1789-1790, - abbé Jean-Jacques BarthélemyJean-Jacques BarthélemyJean-Jacques Barthélemy was a French writer and numismatist.-Early life:Barthélemy was born at Cassis, in Provence, and began his classical studies at the College of Oratory in Marseilles. He took up philosophy and theology at the Jesuits' college, and finally attended the seminary of the Lazarists...
, of the Académie françaiseAcadémie françaiseL'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
, - Etienne-Xavier Poisson de la Chabeaussière, former director of the Opéra de Paris,
- general Arthur Dillon,
- general René Joseph de Lanoue,
- Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville (former minister, who died at the age of 93),
- Charles-Pierre Claret de Fleurieu (former ministre de la marine),
- Angrand d’Alleray, civil lieutenant to the Grand Châtelet, guillotined at the age of 78
- Sabran, colonel de cavalerie
- Lecoulteux de Canteleu, former Député to the Estates GeneralFrench States-GeneralIn France under the Old Regime, the States-General or Estates-General , was a legislative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king...
- Saint-Priest brother of the former interior ministerMinister of the Interior (France)The Minister of the Interior in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following:* The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes...
of 1789
- Louis Thiroux de Crosne
- revolutionaries such as Jean-François VarletJean-François VarletJean-François Varlet was a leader of the Enragé faction in the French RevolutionBorn in Paris on 14 July 1764 into a family of the petty bourgeoisie, Jean-François Varlet studied at the College d'Harcourt....
- the marquis de SadeMarquis de SadeDonatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
- the poet Sébastien-Roch Nicolas de Chamfort : imprisoned, then freed, he was re-arrested and re-imprisoned, attempted suicide, and died of his wounds
- Nicolas AppertNicolas AppertNicolas Appert , was the French inventor of airtight food preservation. Appert, known as the "father of canning", was a confectioner.-Biography:...
in 1794
In fiction
The prison has been used as a setting in several works of fiction, including :- Scènes de la vie d'une courtisane, by Honoré de BalzacHonoré de BalzacHonoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
- Le chevalier de Maison Rouge, by Alexandre Dumas
- Les MisérablesLes MisérablesLes Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...
, by Victor HugoVictor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France.... - L'enfant léopard, by Daniel PicoulyDaniel PicoulyDaniel Picouly is a French writer. near ParisHe was raised in a family of 13 children, his parents were born in the French overseas territory of Martinique.He became a professor of economics in Paris....
(Prix Renaudot 1999)
External links
Sources
- "Abbayes, monastères, couvents de femmes à Paris, des origines à la fin du XVIIIe siècle" - Paul Biver - PUF (1975)
- "Historiettes" - Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux
- Archives Nationales - S4738
- "Collection des mémoires relatifs à la révolution française" - Tome second - Saint-Albin Berville - Baudouin Frères, libraires éditeurs (Paris - 1823)
- "Histoire physique, civile et morale de Paris" - Jacques-Antoine Dulaure et Jules-Léonard Belin - (1842)
- "Les prisons de l'Europe" - Auguste Maquet et Jules-Edouard Alboise du Pujol (1845)
- "Les prisons de Paris" - Maurice Alhoy et Louis Lurine - Ed Gustave Havard (Paris - 1846)
- "Revue de l'Anjou et du Maine" - tome sixième - Librairie de Cosnier et Lachèse (Angers - 1860)
- "La Prostitution et la police des mœurs au XVIIIe siècle" - Erica-Marie Benabou - Perrin (1987)
- "La pendaison, la strangulation, la suffocation, la submersion" - Paul Brouardel. Paris, Librairie J.B. Baillière et fils, (1897)
- "Enfants corrigés, enfants protégés - Genèse de la protection de l'enfance en Belgique, en France et aux Pays-bas (1820-1914)" - Marie-Sylvie Dupont-Bouchat - Revue du Réseau Européen Droit et Société
- Photos de la démolition : "Le nouveau Paris sens dessus dessous (Marville - Photographies 1864-1877)" Ph. Mellot - Ed. Michèle Trinckvel (1995) - p. 210-213