I recently returned from a short research trip to France, where I was conducting research on manuscript collections dating from the French Wars of Religion (1562-1629) held at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF) in Paris.  The manuscript collections are conserved at the BNF site on the rue de Richelieu, rather than at the new library at Tolbiac.

This trip, I was primarily examining French noblewomen’s letters dealing with aspects of religious violence and civil warfare during the French Wars of Religion.  I also read some short treatises and mémoires dealing with women and gender issues during the religious wars.

This research is intended for my next book project on A Virile Courage: Gender and Violence in the French Wars of Religion.  I have been gradually researching this book on-and-off over the past eight years and hope to complete the research in the next two years.  I have already published several journal articles and short pieces relating to this project, but I am looking forward to moving the manuscript forward with the new sources I located on this trip.

It was fabulous to be back in Paris and working with manuscripts!  It is always a pleasure to explore the holdings at the Salle des Manuscrits (even if they are currently moved over to the Salle Mazarine because of ongoing renovations of the building at Richelieu), and to enjoy lunch breaks in the gardens of the Palais Royal.

Readers of my blog will have noticed that there have been no new posts during my research trip to France.  Now that I am back in Chicago, the posts will be proliferating again.