The Consumption of Medical Services in Paris, c. 1650-c. 1750. (360G-Wellcome-090617_Z_09_Z)

My project is an in-depth study of the consumption of medical services in Paris between c. 1650 and c.1750. I want to understand the frequency and manner in which people utilized the services of paid healers over the whole life cycle, from childhood to old age. I thus expand the scope of consumption studies, which have specialised in culture and luxury, to include medical services. I take Paris as a test case. Major transformations occurred in Paris under the Bourbons, turning it into the medica l centre of modern Europe. Part of my research will utilize records of medical debts over a century by sampling notarial archives which record medical fees in post-mortem inventories and guardianship accounts. In addition, I will systematically examine civil jurisdiction records in order to uncover expenditure on orphans' health and legal cases for the recovery of medical debts. I will also study how households and convents paid for medical services and commodities. My study will give a unique i nsight into the nature of medical services, the monetary relationships between patients at different stages in the life cycle and practitioners, the rhythm and scale of medical payments, and the general organisation of medical services and commodities.