French History - current issue

'Paris est libre' Entries as Reconciliations: From Charles VII to Charles De Gaulle

De Waele, M. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:58:20 PST

The numerous conflicts that have punctuated the history of France have repeatedly confronted political leaders with the challenge of bringing about national reconciliation. This article will dwell on four periods that have been the theatre of ‘Franco-French’ rivalry, in order to show how they may be seen as acts of reconciliation: the end of the Hundred Years War; the Wars of Religion; the Revolutionary and the Napoleonic period; and the Second World War. It will examine the entries made into Paris by Charles VII on 20 November 1437, by Henri IV on 22 March 1594, by Louis XVIII on 3 May 1814 and by Charles de Gaulle on 26 August 1944. The article will also explain the differences between a reconciliatory entry and a normal entry, while at the same time throwing light on the perennial character of the rituals of reconciliation.

The Parlement of Paris and the Ordinances of Blois (1579)

Daubresse, S. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:58:20 PST

The Parlement of Paris invested considerable time and energy in detailed consideration of the substantial reforming legislation that had emerged from the first Estates General of Blois (1576–77) and which formed the eventual Ordinances of Blois (1579). Using the registers of the Parlement of Paris and hitherto unexamined copies of associated remonstrances, this article assesses why they did so, focusing on the issues of ecclesiastical and judicial reform. By placing their intervention in the context of the response from the Parisian magistrates to the holding of other Estates General in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, it concludes that the sovereign court sought as much to uphold its exalted view of the ‘law of the realm’ and its own conception of reform, as to assert its independence from the Estates General or become a decisive intermediary in the dialogue between the crown and its subjects.

Theological Renewal and Enlightenment Confrontations at the Sorbonne (c.1730-1750)

Burson, J. D. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:58:20 PST

This article examines the diversity of Enlightenment discourses that were crafted at the Theology Faculty of the University of Paris (the Sorbonne) during a key, and still under-studied, period of its history from approximately 1730 to 1750. In these years, theological discourses developed earlier in the eighteenth century by Jesuits were joined with experimental approaches to physiology, natural philosophy, physics and epistemology, while synthesizing Malebrache, Locke and Newton in apologetically useful ways. These enlightened discourses were adopted by theologians and students at the Sorbonne at time when Jesuit influence was especially strong in the University of Paris, as well as among seminary instructors, thanks to infighting in the Gallican Church over the papal bull Unigenitus. By combining scholarship on the radical Enlightenment, French higher education, the Catholic Enlightenment and the religious origins of the French Revolution with new research, this article shows the extent to which the student experience in Paris in general, and the history of the Sorbonne in particular, merits further examination as an integral part of the public sphere.

After the Affair: The Congres de la Jeunesse and Intellectual Reconciliation in 1900

Wright, J. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:58:20 PST

The Congrès de la Jeunesse of December 1900 was an audacious project in intellectual reconciliation following the Dreyfus Affair. Drawing together Dreyfusards and anti-Dreyfusards, poets and political activists, it attempted a double reconciliation, between different political factions and between the worlds of literature and politics. This study of the congress suggests new lines of reflection for a rereading of the intellectual battles of the turn of the century in France. The heated nature of discussions meant that the project would not easily bear fruit. Nevertheless, it needs to be studied more closely, as it attempted to adjust the politics of confrontation, too often seen as the root of all French political argument in the early twentieth century. It did this by advancing practical programmes on which opponents could find agreement. Understanding how these specific programmes connected with the quest for reconciliation casts a new light on ideas that animated the central years of the Third Republic.

Three Faces of Richelieu: A Historiographical Essay

Bergin, J. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:58:20 PST

This article explores the different views of Richelieu to be found in three different cultures, those of Spain, Germany and England (to which America is added). It begins with the perceptions of Richelieu among his contemporaries and how these evolved in subsequent centuries. The figure of Richelieu has fascinated biographers, novelists and playwrights, whose work influenced wider historical judgements of the Cardinal. In recent times, historians have sought to overcome the different stereotypes that abounded in previous centuries and, in German and Anglo-Saxon scholarship, fresh and as yet unreconciled facets of Richelieu and his historical significance continue to emerge, providing the basis for a rather different portrait of the man.

David Sturdy (1940-2009)

Bergin, J. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:58:20 PST