Porter assistance aux assistants: Jean Gerson (1363–1429) et sa postérité dans le domaine des soins de fin de vie

Abstract

Abstract The article deals with the history of palliative care, and examines several relevant documents from the late Middle Ages and Early Modern Era. The study is divided into two parts. The first part explores the contribution of the great theologian of the late Middle Ages Jean Gerson (1363–1429) to the field of end-of-life care, and is based on his texts La médecine de l’âme, Pour l’Hôtel Dieu, Lettre à un inconnu, Lettre à un vieillard, and Nova epistola pro instructione episcoporum et prelatorum. The second part follows Gerson’s legacy in the field of end-of-life care and is based on the texts by important theologians of the second half of the 15th and early 17th centuries.