5. Henri Sauval Documented The Court of Miracles
The modern world would know little about the Court of Miracles if it weren’t for the groundbreaking work of historian Henri Sauval. Sauval wrote extensively of the lives of residents in the slums, with vivid depictions of their everyday lives. He documented the minutiae of their days to present a clear picture of what it is was like to live within the hierarchies of the slums. Many of the induction rituals, social hierarchies, rules, and languages of the slums are only known due to Sauval’s work.
It took some time for Sauval’s writings on the Court to be widely recognized. It was unpopular and little published soon after printing, as the details were considered salacious and seditious. However, about a half-century after its creation, the historical accounts began to receive greater attention and respect as a historical and anthropological work.
The recognition of the fact that Paris had numerous slums, not just the Grand Court, was due to Sauval’s careful documentation. Sauval argued in his writings that the slums of Paris were as old as the professions of begging and prostitution themselves. Sadly, some of Sauval’s original manuscripts, as reproduced by later scholars, were lost in the fires of the Paris Commune in 1871.