Last weekend, I attended the Western Society for French History conference in Banff, Canada. The WSFH is one of two major academic conferences concerning French history  held annually in North America.

I participated in two sessions on “The Wars of Religion: Militancy in Word and Deed,” and “Warriors for King and Christ: Noble Violence in Early Modern France.” I commented on papers by Allan Tulchin, Amanda Eurich, and Jill Fehleison in the first session, then presented a paper on “‘The Lord God Wishes to Fortify Us’: Huguenot Noble Protectors and Religious Violence after the Edict of Nantes,” in the second session. Mack Holt chaired both sessions and led the discussion.

The WSFH conference included a number of early modern French historians and French Revolutionary historians, including Mack Holt, Rob Schneider, Michael Breen, Erik Thomson, Hilary Bernstein, Allan Tulchin, Amanda Eurich, Jill Fehleison, Kathryn Norberg, Katherine Crawford, Jeffrey Merrick, Nina Kushner, and Jotham Parsons.

Martin Staum gave a keynote address on the revolutionaries’ understanding of the Enlightenment through the writings of the members of the Institut de France during the Directory and Napoleonic period.