French invalidity certificates

Certificates of discharge on behalf of French military personnel on account of wounds, injury or illness sustained in royal service. The certificates are for the most part signed by senior officers testifying to the nature of the wounds or other cause of invalidity, and include a recommendation for admission to the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, with a note subscribed by [Jean] Morand (1659-1726), chief surgeon of that institution, certifying suitability for admission. A few are royal orders for admission, likewise certified by Morand. Several of the certificates are for Irish soldiers in French service.

1695-1724

92 pieces in two folders 92 documents of various sizes

Purchased from various Parisian dealers: Charavay, July 1929 (acc.57070), April 1931 (accs.64715-64716), April 1932 (acc.65157), May 1932 (acc.65655), August 1932 (acc.65656), April 1934 (acc.67098), and at an unknown date before 1936 (acc.69220); Degrange, July 1930 (acc.63453) and October 1930 (acc.63923); an unknown vendor, April 1930 (acc.67371); R. Bonnet, Viroflay, November 1930 (acc.63425) and July 1931 (64442).

cf. WMS.7914

It seems a number of these documents were formerly part of the archives of the French order of Malta, which was presumably dispersed onto the open market in the interwar period. Several documents bear printed archival stamps of the order. Two of these also have stamps of the 'Archives de Noblesse' of the 'Collège Héraldique de France'. It is not possible to determine the chronological precedence of these stamps.