ABSTRACT
In 1617, Vincent de Paul established his first Confraternity of Charity as an organization for devout noble and haute bourgeois women to perform charitable works on behalf of the poor. The Confraternities of Charity spread across France, and in 1633, they took the title the Company of the Daughters of Charity, servants of the sick poor. The expansion of the organization caused a profound transformation in its internal structure as women from more modest backgrounds came to provide direct assistance to the poor while the elite women assumed the role of the Company’s administrators. Within the Company of the Daughters of Charity were several communities, including elite Ladies, Daughters from artisan or peasant families, and the smaller groups of Daughters that resided in parishes, hospitals, and other facilities for the care of the poor and the sick. Moreover, the Company forged connections to several external communities, including the royal court and the French Church. The goal of this essay is to understand the many levels of communities within the Company of the Daughters of Charity and the connections between them.1
