On this day in ...... 1443, when the signing of the 1435 treaty ending the Hundred Years War failed to end massacre and pillage in Burgundy, a lay charity (rare for the time) was founded in a community whose people were destitute. Founding the Hospices de Beaune were Guigone de Salins (right) and her husband, Nicolas Rolin, who was chancellor to the duke of Burgundy. The 1st patient arrived in 1452, and treatment continues to this day. Expansion through donations also has rendered it "the best and oldest example of historical, philanthropic, and wine-producing heritage, and has become linked with the economic and cultural life of Burgundy."
