Moved by the distress of the population marked by the Hundred Years' War, Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor of the Duke of Burgundy Philip III, and his third wife Guigone de Salins decided to create a pious foundation with a humanist vocation by building a hospital for the sick and the deprived. In August 1443, he wrote the founding charter of the Hôtel-Dieu of Beaune, where the first patient entered on January 1, 1452. To maintain the independence of the institution, Rolin obtained by letters patent from Philip III an exemption from all fiscal and feudal charges as well as all other services or taxes towards the ducal house. He also freed the Hospices de Beaune from any local clerical coercion by placing them under the supervision of the episcopal see.