SSFH Society News

The Society for the Study of French History (SSFH) supports postgraduate research by funding students to carry out archival research as well as helping them to attend and/or present work at conferences. These awards are open to all postgraduate students registered at a UK university who are carrying out research on an aspect of French history, and reports from successful applicants clearly indicate the tremendous range of research interests supported by the Society. The Society also supports conferences on French history as well as Visiting Scholars to UK and Irish Universities. In this edition we present reports from recipients of Postgraduate Research Grants and Covid Support Grants for Early Career Researchers. The edition further includes details on recent and forthcoming books in the Studies in Modern French and Francophone History series with MUP, for which members of the SSFH are entitled to a 35% discount. More information on the postgraduate awards (and on the full range of bursaries and prizes offered by the SSFH) is available from the Society’s website: www.frenchhistorysociety.ac.uk.

POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH GRANTS

Reconstructing foreignness and identity at the late medieval universities of Orléans and Paris

Teresa Barucci (University of Cambridge)

My doctoral research project explores the construction, expression and practical significance of social identity among the scholarly community of the universities of Orléans and Paris from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. This aspect of the social history of the two French universities is justified for two reasons. Firstly, because the topic and the relevant source materials are underexplored, with historiography favouring an institutional or intellectual approach. Secondly, because the investigation has wider methodological and theoretical implications regarding the study of what is commonly described as ‘identity’: at the core of the project is, in fact, an interest in what is distinctive about the articulation of identity in a peculiarly cosmopolitan and transient context such as that of the scholarly community.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Society for the Study of French History for its generous support. This support enabled me to conduct archival research in Paris in November 2021. During this month, I chiefly focused on a sixteenth-century ‘book of the proctors’ of the German natio at the University of Paris, which is currently kept at the Bibliothèque de la Sorbonne. The nationes were semi-independent associations that loosely grouped the scholars of a medieval university together according to geographical origin. I am thrilled that my research on the manuscript in question has yielded exciting results. In particular, the decorative apparatus of the manuscript, which includes an array of written additions in the vernacular languages and dialectal variants of the scholars, has proven to be a fascinating lens through which to reflect on the complex interplay of language, self-presentation and identity among the scholars at Paris. Overall, the support of the Society has allowed me to finish the majority of the archival research necessary for the completion of my doctoral project. Lastly, the time in Paris which the Society has afforded me has also allowed me to meet other researchers working on similar topics and themes. This has been extremely beneficial for both my project and future academic career.

The Huguenot gazettes published in the Dutch Republic, 1671–1701

Panagiotis Georgakakis (University of St Andrews)

My doctoral project examines the emergence of the Huguenot press in the Dutch Republic from the eve of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes until the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession. The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes on 18 October 1685 led a significant number of Huguenots to migrate as France was no longer a safe place for them to live in. Most of the French refugees chose to settle in England and the Dutch Republic. They organized their congregations and they often worked as merchants, craftsmen and scientists. Many participated in the news market, as printers, booksellers, publishers and editors.

The Huguenot newsmen found in the Dutch Republic a fertile ground on which to establish and expand their gazettes, as the state had a tradition of francophone gazettes dating to the second decade of the seventeenth century. Working as copywriters for the gazettes, Huguenots learned the business from experienced Dutch publishers. Soon after 1685, Huguenot gazettes were founded in Leiden, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. The gazettes became famous among Huguenot communities. Their heyday coincided with the expansionist policy of the French king, Louis XIV. From 1688 until 1714, France fought the Dutch, the English, the Austrians, several German states and the Spaniards in the Nine Years War (1688–1697) and the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714). As a result, the urgent need for information about France and the conflict increased rapidly. The Huguenot gazettes stepped in to feed this need. Nevertheless, they did not share the same political, military or religious views and aimed at different audiences. My research focuses on the establishment of these gazettes in the Dutch Republic. I study their dissemination among the Huguenot diaspora, the emergence of news networks and, finally, the diverse attitude of their editors towards France.

The purpose of my archival trips was to observe as many copies of the Huguenot gazettes as possible. Thanks to the generosity of the Society for the Study of French History and of the Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland, I was able to spend enough time in Paris, London and Leiden to view all the surviving issues in the relevant libraries. Moreover, these grants gave me the opportunity to discover a new Huguenot gazette, which scholars had previously been unaware of.

Unfortunately, I could not visit the Vatican Library due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but I am extremely grateful for the financial support that made my archival trips possible. I would also like to express my gratitude to my supervisors Professor Andrew Pettegree and Dr Arthur der Weduwer for their support, guidance and comments.

RALPH GIBSON BURSARY

The cross: object, relic, and symbol at the Valois courts during the reigns of Charles V and VI of France (1360–1422)

Susannah Kingwill (The Courtauld Institute of Art)

My project investigates the material traces and manifestations of devotions to the cross at the French court around 1400 through an analysis of the possessions of the four sons of John II of France. Exploring the cross as an object type, relic, historical artefact and image, it draws together a small but significant group of extant objects with an exceptional body of surviving documentary material, to unpick nuanced messages about key individuals’ interactions with the cult of the cross and the objects that took its form or conveyed its history. In doing so it highlights the sophisticated, yet hitherto unexplored, nature of crosses as a type of physical object, their role as possessions and the ways in which they could act as tools of memory and identity for their owners.

Similarly, my thesis seeks to further explore the material and performative manifestations of devotions to the True Cross and its relics within the confines of the courtly milieu at a particular moment in French history. This period witnessed a renewed interest in the Passion relics in the Sainte Chapelle in Paris and the Burgundian Crusade which culminated in the devastating battle of Nicopolis, leading to another crusading venture. My study will provide an in-depth investigation into the presence, perception and function of the cross as both an object and symbol at the French courts circa 1400 and will open up a debate on a set of objects that have a rich contribution to offer to our understanding of the relationship between an individual and the objects they owned, as well as the production and function of the arts at the French courts.

I am extremely honoured to be a recipient of the Ralph Gibson Bursary, which has been invaluable in elevating the burden of financial stress as I enter the fourth year of my doctoral studies. The bursary has enabled me to undertake archival research in Dijon necessary for the completion of my thesis and to supplement my living costs. The support of the Society for the Study of French History and this generous award will be instrumental in enabling me to complete my doctoral studies as the culmination of the past three years of research, for which I am very grateful.

COVID SUPPORT GRANTS FOR EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS

Le roy est entré dans notre ville: examining how the Valois monarchy interacted with the centre and periphery, 1560–1574

Austin Collins (Durham University & Erfurt Universität)

My project aims to investigate how monarchical power interacted with the civic and religious authority of urban spaces in the centre and periphery of sixteenth-century France. In an attempt to increase royal authority, and to enforce the Edict of Amboise, Charles IX embarked on a royal tour of France from 1564 to 1566. By examining different entries for cities on the periphery (Lyon and Angoulême) and the centre (Loire Valley towns of Tours, Blois and Amboise), a clearer picture emerges of how religious differences and power negotiations manifested in urban spaces.

As Charles IX crossed France, the attempt to enforce monarchical control encountered resistance amongst city councils, which manifested as power negotiations during royal entries. Lyon and Angoulême had significant Protestant influence and attempted to showcase to the monarchy how religious toleration could be achieved., whereas the Loire Valley was the heart of monarchical control and its towns tried to demonstrate their support for the Crown during the religious wars. Using a ‘frontstage-backstage’ approach of these royal entries by utilizing festival books, financial records, correspondences and city council minutes, my project explores how monarchical, civic and religious powers fought for superiority across various urban spaces during a time of religious warfare.

The purpose of my research trip to the Loire Valley was to visit various archives in Tours, Blois and Amboise. Specifically, I visited Tours’s Archives municipales, the Archives d’Indre-et-Loire, Archives municipales d’Amboise and the Archives de la ville de Blois. Whilst visiting these archives, I was primarily accessing city council minutes, financial records and correspondences related to the royal entries. I was also able to uncover other records related to prominent Huguenot families from this time, along with records of violence from the months preceding the arrival of Charles IX. Crucially, I was also able to engage in conversations with the historians Lucie Gaugain, Florence Alazard and David Rivaud at the Université de Tours.

Through the generous support of the Society for the Study of French History, I was able to spend valuable time in the Loire Valley archives, as the majority of these materials are not available online. I am pleased with the material that I was able to uncover, and I am confident that I will be able to use these primary sources as I continue to build up my Loire Valley case studies. I would like to thank my Durham supervisors, Tom Hamilton and Graeme Small, and my Erfurt supervisor, Susanne Rau, for their continued support.

Cardinal de Retz, French noble exile, and political mobility in seventeenth-century Europe

Christophe Gillain (University of Cambridge)

During the seventeenth century it was commonplace for rebellious French nobles to flee to neighbouring countries, in defiance of the monarchy. In recent years, there has been renewed interest from historians in the exile of some of these figures, including Louis XIII’s mother and brother, Marie de’ Medici and Gaston d’Orléans – or the Grand Condé. But such studies have tended to focus primarily on individual figures or families, rather than drawing thematic connections between exiles. Broader surveys of disgrace in early modern France tend to focus on top-down formal banishment and to see the years that aristocrats spent in foreign exile as little more than footnotes to their careers.

By contrast, my doctoral thesis argues that ending these stories at the French frontier ignores the dynamism of exiles’ lives abroad. Revolving around Cardinal de Retz, one of the leading frondeurs who rebelled against the French government during the 1650s, my research takes a micro-historical approach. The thesis seeks to place Retz in the context of a wider culture of political exile in the decades leading up to the Fronde. It considers his exile and that of his contemporaries like Condé through the lens of ‘political mobility’, suggesting that politics in the Bourbon kingdom during this period had a far more transnational dimension than has been commonly recognized.

The Society for the Study of French History’s Covid Support Grant was vital in allowing me to undertake essential archival research in Paris for two months at the end of 2021. During this time, I consulted documents from the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Bibliothèque Mazarine, the Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, and the Bibliothèque de l’Institut. As the repository of the papers of Régis de Chantelauze, a nineteenth-century scholar of Retz, the Bibliothèque de l’Institut in particular was an invaluable resource. Chantelauze amassed a vast trove of correspondence, memoirs and other documents pertaining to Retz’s exile that has been little used by historians. This material allowed me to begin writing up my doctoral thesis and will form the basis of articles that I plan to submit to peer-reviewed journals. I am extremely grateful to the Society for this wonderful initiative. Not only did the grant make possible the completion of my archival work after it was significantly delayed by the pandemic, but it also greatly alleviated my financial stress as an international student entering the final year of my PhD.

Émile Giraud: a life across borders (1894–1965)

Emanuele Podda (University of Warwick)

My doctoral thesis is an intellectual biography of Émile Giraud (1894–1965), a hitherto ignored French jurist, political scientist and international civil servant (League of Nations/United Nations). Giraud combined several roles and identities during his life, moving across different disciplinary (law, political science), professional (academia, civil service), and geographical fields (France, Switzerland, America). Despite his achievements, however, Giraud never gained access to prestigious national academic or administrative positions, and was soon forgotten after his death. By making use of the biographical approach and building on recent studies of transnational actors during the first half of the twentieth century, this research aims to illuminate the benefits as well as the costs of moving across borders during this period.

Through my much-delayed archival trip to Paris in July 2021, I was able to visit several institutions and access many relevant documents, allowing me to better appreciate Giraud’s path and make multiple advances in my research. At the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Tolbiac) I consulted his books and articles on constitutional law and political science as well as those works which he cited and influenced him the most. In this way I was able to verify how through his transnational connections and transdisciplinary tendencies Giraud made himself one of the precursors of the study of political science in France during the inter-war years. At the Archives Diplomatiques I was able to find several notes drafted by him while working at the League of Nations and at the United Nations, forwarded to the cabinet of different ministers of foreign affairs (13QO/106) or to the Secrétariat des Conférences (372QO) between 1927 and 1954. They testify to the informal liaison role between national governments and international institutions played by often ignored international civil servants. At the Archives Nationales (Pierrefitte), I was able to access both Giraud’s academic career record (F17/28486), covering the years 1927–1965, and his private correspondence from 1944 to 1955 with a leading Fourth Republic’s politician, Georges Bidault (MIC 457-AP-186). This documentation reveals frictions between Giraud’s international career and the French academic and administrative milieus, where he struggled to find recognition.

Giraud quickly acknowledged that his struggle was because of his transnational identity, making him appear ‘un-French’ and keeping him far removed from the centre of national power in Paris; he had been ‘systematically put aside’, thus offering us a view from which the costs of being international can be seen at a time when academic and administrative fields were still firmly entrenched within national borders.

I want to express my sincere thanks to the Society for the Study of French History for funding this research grant, and to my supervisor, Dr Jessica Wardhaugh, for having assisted during the application process.

STUDIES IN MODERN FRENCH AND FRANCOPHONE HISTORY

This series with Manchester University Press is published in collaboration with the SSFH and the French Colonial Historical Society. It aims to showcase innovative monographs and edited collections on the history of France, its colonies and imperial undertakings, and the francophone world more generally since c. 1750. Authors demonstrate how sources and interpretations are being opened to historical investigation in new and interesting ways, and how unfamiliar subjects have the capacity to tell us more about France and the French colonial empire, their relationships in the world, and their legacies in the present. The series is particularly receptive to studies that break down traditional boundaries and conventional disciplinary divisions.

Members of the Society for the Study of French History are entitled to a 35% discount on orders for personal use on all Studies in Modern French and Francophone History series titles.

Recent and forthcoming titles include:

Confiscating the Common Good: Small Towns and Religious Politics in the French Revolution

Edward WoellI SBN: 978-1-5261-5913-7

Sport and Physical Culture in Occupied France: Authoritarianism, Agency, and Everyday Life

Keith RathboneI SBN: 978-1-5261-5328-9

Psychoanalysis and the Family in Twentieth-Century France: Françoise Dolto and Her l

Legacy

Richard BatesISBN: 978-1-5261-5962-5

Mutinous Memories: A Subjective History of French Military Protest in 1919

Matt PerryISBN 9781526114105

Death and the Crown. Ritual and Politics in France before the Revolution

Anne ByrneISBN 9781526143303

Catholicism and Children’s Literature in France: The Comtesse de Ségur (1799–1874)

Sophie HeywoodISBN 9780719084669

Aristocratic Families in Republican France, 1870–1940

Elizabeth C. MacKnightISBN 9780719085017

The Routes to Exile: France and the Spanish Civil War Refugees, 1939–2009

Scott SooISBN 9780719086915

Émile and Isaac Pereire: Bankers, Socialists and Sephardic Jews in Nineteenth-Century France

Helen M. DaviesISBN 9780719089237

The Republican Line: Caricature and French Republican Identity, 1830–52

Laura O’BrienISBN 9780719089350

From Empire to Exile: History and Memory within the Pied-Noir and Harki Communities, 1962–2012 (Winner of the 2017 RHS Gladstone Prize)

Claire EldridgeISBN 9780719087233

Robespierre and the Festival of the Supreme Being: The Search for a Republican Morality

Jonathan SmythISBN 9781526103789

Terror and Terroir: The Winegrowers of the Languedoc and Modern France

Andrew W. M. SmithISBN 9781784994358

The Stadium Century: Sport, Spectatorship and Mass Society in Modern France

Robert W. LewisISBN 9781526106261

In Pursuit of Politics: Education and Revolution in Eighteenth-Century France

Adrian O’ConnorISBN 9781526120564

Nobility and Patrimony in Modern France

Elizabeth C. MacknightISBN 9781526120519

Series editors:

Professor Máire Cross (University of Newcastle): [email protected]

Professor David Hopkin (University of Oxford): [email protected]

Professor Jennifer Sessions (University of Virginia): [email protected]