Collection
of the CPAS of the City of Brussels
HISTORICAL ARCHIVES
Report on the diseases listed in 1875 addressed to the General Council of Hospices and Secours, ink on paper, January 5, 1875, Inv. x.
We keep no less than 15,000 linear meters of archives relating to healthcare and charitable institutions, from the Middle Ages to the present day.
Below is an overview of the archival fonds and where they come from
With respect for the Old regime, the archives of the institutions are divided between two main fonds: H and B. The archives of the contemporary period trace the creation of our institution, beginning with the collection of the Conseil des Hospices et Secours (1796-1925), which became the CAP (Commission d’Assistance Publique) (1925-1976) up to the current CPAS (Centre Public d’Action Sociale) (1977- ).
Please note that the inventories which are not available online can however be consulted on site, in the reading room.
Act of the foundation of the Saint-Jean hospital and its seal, 1276.Ink on parchment and wax.
Deed of foundation of the Saint-Jean hospital and its seal, 1047, ink on parchment and wax.
Old Regime (from 1047 to 1797)
Fonds B
The B-fond (Welfare) includes the sub-fonds of the archives of the Supreme Charity and the Poor Houses, the Poor Tables, the charitable brotherhoods and the private foundations.
-
The Suprême Charité: Habsburg central organ of public welfare overseeing all private charitable institutions of the city, as well as certain foundations of which it had the direct administration (foundlings, blind paupers, prisoners, etc.)
-
The Poor Houses (Armenhuysen) were the charity workhouses created by the gouvernement in a number of cities at the beginning of the 18th century.
-
The Poor Tables or Holy Spirit tables: parish-based relief co-managed by lay officials and priests granting aid in kind and in cash. These were the tables of Sainte-Gudule and Finistère, Sainte-Catherine and Saint-Jean de Molenbeek, Saint-Jacques at Coudenberg, Saint-Nicolas, Saint-Géry and Notre-Dame de la Chapelle.
NB: A number of private foundations was overseen by each Poor Table.
-
Charitable brotherhoods: let us mention above all a craft brotherhood, the Saint-Eloy Brotherhood, bringing together art and metalworking crafts. We should also mention (in the H series) a register of the Saint-Jacques of Overmolen brotherhood.
-
Private foundations: are funded by wealthy donors and usually bear the name of the donor. In addition to the foundations attached to the Poor Tables,we should mention the Brusseghem Foundation (including the Busleyden and the Sailly foundations).
Letter from the Master of the Plague Philippe Birago, signed and dated 1691, ink on paper.
Fonds H
The H-fonds (Hospitals and Hospices) includes accomodation and placement institutions, foundlings and abandoned children and orphanages.
-
Hospitals: giving temporary shelter to a number of social categories (mainly the sick, the impotent or the disabled ones. The Saint-Jean hospital was devoted to caring for poor sick people in a generic way, the Saint-Pierre leperhospital was dedicated to the accommodation of certain lepers while the hospitals for passers-by were intended for poor travellers, namely the Saint-Corneille, Saint -Jacques d'Overmolen, Saint-Julien (or Saint-Ghislain) and Saint-Laurent hospitals.
-
The hospices: in principle welcome the elderly for life. Men are received in the hospices of the 12 Apostles, of Calvary, of the Little Canons, Saint-Christophe and Van der Haeghen. Women have 21 hospices: 15 Maids and Our Lady of Peace, 5 Wounds, 9 Choirs of Angels, Baeckx, Song of Birds, the Crown of Thorns or Our Lord Jesus Christ, Sweet Name of Jesus or Duquesnoy, Pacheco or Saint-Job, Rapoy, Saint-Aubert or Bakers, Sainte-Anne or Tserclaes, Sainte-Croix, Sainte-Gertrude, Sainte-Elisabeth of Hungary, Trinidad, Saint-Sauveur or Merciers, Tanners, Ter Arken or Our Lady, Ter Thomme and Van den Bempden.
-
Other foundations were responsible for hosting or placing children: Bons-Enfants and choirs of Sainte-Gudule, Sainte-Catherine, the Foundation of Marie-Albertine de Gand, Marquise de Deinze, the Veltem Foundation; poor orphans and foundlings being cared for by public assistance. The education given to poor children (“poor schools”) depends on the parish branches of the Supreme Charity.
Contemporary period (from 1796 to the present day)
Fonds of the Hospices et Secours Council (1796-1925)
-
Direction: includes in particular the deliberations of the Board and General Affairs (files whose interest is considered important enough for these matters to be dealt with by the Board).
-
General administration by department: Personnel, Litigation (forerunner of the legal department), Property and Works, Finance and Receipt, and General Stores (responsible for supplies).
-
Charitable activities:
-
The Charity Bureau divided into Charity Committees, with the Doctors of the Poor.
-
Charity workshops and begging depots, organizing work for the poor and beggars.
-
The « Mons Pietatis » : a communal pawnbroking institution, under the supervision of the Council of Hospices between 1804 and 1848.
-
-
Hospice activities:
-
The hospitals, including the Saint-Jean hospital (including the future Brugmann hospital), the Saint-Pierre hospital and the Maternity hospital, but also hospitals specialized by category of patient received: the asylum-depot (succeeding the Simpelhuys de Brussels), the Brugmann Sanatorium in Alsemberg for tuberculosis patients, or the Latour de Freins hospital in Uccle for convalescents and the Roger de Grimberghe maritime hospital in Middelkerke for children.
-
The various hospices and shelters, first for the elderly including the Hospice de l'Infirmerie, the Hospices Réunis and the Hospice Pacheco; but also the orphanage for girls.
-
The placement of foundlings and abandoned children, orphans, certain elderly people, the insane (in Geel).
-
-
Notable pieces: The Fonds of Found and Abandoned Children contains a remarkable collection of characteristic marks, dating back to 1740, distinctive signs left by the parents of children in order to be able to identify them and recover them when their material situation would have improved.