Guigone de Salins

Guigone de Salins ( 1403 - 1470 ) came from the old Burgundian noble house Salins-la-Tour and was a well-known benefactress in Beaune .

biography

Guigone de Salins was born in 1403 as the third daughter of Étienne de Salins la Tour and Louise de Rye in well-protected circumstances. At the age of 18 she married Nicolas Rolin, who was 29 years her senior and widower of two . As a member of the ducal court (she served there as a lady of honor) and due to her high origin, she finally introduced Nicolas, who came from a middle-class family, into the nobility. Her considerable dowry increased the wealth of her husband considerably, who was given by Philip III in 1422 . (Philip the Good) was made chancellor and knighted in 1424. Guigone and Nicolas had three children together: Louise, Claudine and Antoine Rolin.

Guigone de Salins was charitable and encouraged her husband to make numerous foundations. In 1443 both founded the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune, a revolutionary hospital for the time, in which the poor of the city were treated free of charge and rich people were treated for a fee. In addition to modern medicine, the hospital was also provided with spacious rooms and art objects. Through their commitment, both managed to equip the hospice with such financial and endowment funds that it has survived to this day (even in the original premises until the 1960s).

After your husband's death in 1462, Guigone de Salins moved to the Hôtel-Dieu and took over sole management. She was able to successfully fend off a lawsuit from her stepson Jean Rolin , who wanted to take over the hospice from her.

Guigone de Salins died in 1470 at the age of 67 and was buried in the chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu, where she is now lying again after the rest of the dead were disturbed during the French Revolution.

Representations

Hotel-Dieu de Beaune 129; Guigone de Salins is shown on the right in the picture.

Guigone de Salins is depicted in the painting The Last Judgment by Rogier van der Weyden, which she and her husband donated to the Hôtel-Dieu.

The word “Seulle” can be found on a row of tiles, tapestries and wall paintings. This is a reminder that for Nicolas Guigone was "the only woman in his heart".

Wine

The Hôtel-Dieu Foundation also includes a number of excellent vineyards. A special Premier Cru is named after Guigone de Salins.

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  Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune 145

literature

Marie-Thérèse Berthier, John-Thomas Sweeney, Guigone de Salins 1403-1470, une femme de la Bourgogne médiévale , Éditions de l'Armançon, 2003, ISBN 2-84479-061-5 .