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Why do you think the French sent the Ursuline nuns to Louisiana?
As early as 1726, King Louis XV of France decided that three Ursuline nuns from Rouen should go to New Orleans to establish a hospital for poor sick people and to provide education for young girls of wealthy families.
Where did the Ursuline nuns come from?
Ursuline, Roman Catholic religious order of women founded at Brescia, Italy, in 1535, by St. Angela Merici. The order was the first institute for women dedicated exclusively to the education of girls.
What did the Ursuline nuns have to do with the battle of Nola?
The Ursuline Order provided crucial social services as New Orleans developed into the administrative center for the colony of Louisiana, educating girls and managing the hospital. One of the nuns wrote that they cared for sick soldiers a few months after moving into their convent in July of 1734.
Who built the Ursuline convent?
Ignace François Broutin
Old Ursuline Convent Museum/Architects
The convent complex dates back to 1732, when construction of two buildings designed five years earlier by Ignace Nicholas Broutin, the Chief Engineer of Louisiana, and architect Andre de Batz, was completed, and the Ursuline nuns moved in.
Are there still Ursuline nuns?
Throughout their lives, students continue to remain part of the Ursuline community and continue to carry forward the legacy of Angela de Merici, by serving their society. There is an Ursuline Convent, in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.
Do Ursuline nuns still exist?
What is the oldest order of nuns?
In particular the earliest orders include the English Benedictine Confederation (1216) and Benedictine communities connected to Cluny Abbey, the Benedictine reform movement of Cistercians, and the Norbertine Order of Premonstratensians (1221).
Who founded the Ursuline order?
Angela Merici
Ursulines/Founders
What does the name Ursuline mean?
Latin. “little female bear”
What was the role of Ursuline nuns in New Orleans?
Early in New Orleans history, an order of Ursuline nuns arrived to give the colony spiritual guidance and instruction. They recruited people of all races, enslaved and free, into Catholicism and solidified New Orleans’ Catholic character.
Where are the Ursulines located in New Orleans?
The convent premises in the 9th Ward were in turn sold to the city in the 1910s, and the land was used as part of the route for the Industrial Canal. The nuns moved to newer quarters on Nashville Avenue in Uptown New Orleans, where they are still located.
What kind of building is the Old Ursuline convent?
Built of stucco-covered brick, the new building, also known as Old Ursuline Convent, is typical for the French neoclassical architecture. It is a formal, symmetrical building, severely designed in its lack of ornamentation. No applied orders of pilasters or columns relieved the plain walls.
Where is the oldest building in New Orleans?
As you make the walk from Jackson Square over to the Old US Mint, you might want to make a detour at the corner of Rue Chartres and Rue Ursulines, to tour the oldest building in New Orleans, the Old Ursuline Convent.