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Origin and history

Coulounieix-Chamiers, also known as Maison des Anglais, is a medieval building located on the banks of the Isle River, avenue Pierre Mendès-France. Although often confused with a leprosy, its real use was that of a hospital for the poor pilgrims and travellers, as the archives attest. Its alternative name for Charroux Hospital comes from its founder, W. de Charroux, who established it before 1247. The building is quoted in the Will of Hely of Vitrac in 1310 among the hospitals of Périgueux, not among the leproseries.

In the 14th century, the hospital suffered the consequences of the Hundred Years' War and twice asked the pope for indulgences and alms (1419 and 1433), invoking his mission of welcoming the needy travelers. In the 16th century, the institution took the name of commandership, led by a commander, such as Canon Jean Thibaud (1513) or Étienne Galopin (1538). The archives also reveal its progressive connection to the hospital of Sainte-Marthe in Périgueux in the seventeenth century, according to a royal edict of 1665.

The building, classified as a historic monument in 1907, was studied by local historians such as Henry Wlgrin de Taillefer or Géraud Lavergne. This work has helped to clarify its hospital vocation, distinct from the maladries (leproseries) of Périgueux, and to trace its institutional evolution. Its architecture, marked by the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, bears witness to its role in welcoming pilgrims on medieval roads.

The archival sources and ancient descriptions, such as those of Louis de Lagrange-Chancel (1730), highlight its strategic location near Isle and its importance in the perigordin hospital network. Despite the toponymic confusions (Ecorneboeuf, Charroux), its history remains linked to medieval charity and the transformation of care structures in Aquitaine.

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