Tonnerre

Tonnerre lies on the Armançon and was the chief town of a medieval county. Its most remarkable foundation was the Hôtel-Dieu, established in 1293 by Marguerite of Burgundy, countess of Tonnerre and widow of Charles of Anjou. The hospital's immense hall sheltered the poor and sick, with altars at which religious services were held.

In 1454 the benefactor Lancelot de Buronfosse gave the hospital a sculpted Entombment of Christ. The town suffered a great fire in 1556, which badly damaged the church of Notre-Dame. By the middle of the seventeenth century the old hospital hall was considered too cold and damp for patients, and new hospital accommodation was built nearby. Further additions in the eighteenth century included a council room and a surgery.