[Aid to patients with mental disorders in Provence in the 18th century]

The provençal attitude towards the "insane" presents during the studied period several leading characteristics; they separate it clearly from the other part of the Kingdom, but, on the other hand, integrate it into a more specific latino-mediterranean behaviour. These characteristics are chiefly: a comparatively kind demeanor towards the mentally ill; an already very medical sight of madness, compared with that of North Europe; the foundation of specialized institutions for insane earlier than in other parts of Western World. The investigations of the leading "provençal" mental hospitals, public and private, confirms this statement. The authors have studied for that purpose: the three "lunatic asylums" of Avignon (1681, the most conclusive), Aix (1691) and Marseille (1699); several private foundations at Saint Remy, Salon de Provence, Manosque. The study of the attendance on mental patients in Provence during the Classic Era shows the danger to speculate perilously as Michel Foucault in his book "La Folie à l'Age Classique much greater than. The investigations on the institutions, that only begins, proves it was very diversified, and the patients were took charge medically long before Pinel.