Category Archives: French History

On Political Favor and Conflicts of Interest

Posted on January 17, 2025 by briansandberg

On President-elect Trump’s glaring conflicts of interest…. “During his first administration, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s global business empire created an unprecedented number of conflicts of interest for a sitting president. Ethics experts worried that opportunists could try to curry favor … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Studies, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, French History, Noble Culture and History of Elites, Political Culture, Political Theory, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History, State Development Theory, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

France’s Far-Right Embraces Jean-Marie Le Pen

Posted on January 8, 2025 by briansandberg

French far-right political leader Jean-Marie Le Pen died this week. In 1972, Le Pen founded the Front National (National Front) and gradually built it into the preeminent far-right political party in France. Jean-Marie Le Pen was a former military intelligence … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary France, European History, European Studies, European Union, French History, Museums and Historical Memory, Political Culture | Leave a comment

History of Science and Versailles

Posted on January 8, 2025 by briansandberg

London’s Science Museum is currently displaying an exhibition on Versailles: Science and Splendour, which draws on recent studies in the history of science in early modern France. The Financial Times reports that “The engine of the exhibition is the relationship … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Studies, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, European Studies, French History, History of Medicine, History of Science, Museums and Historical Memory, Women and Gender History, World History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Death of Front National Founder Jean-Marie Le Pen

Posted on January 7, 2025 by briansandberg

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the firebrand far-right French politician and one of the key architects of the modern neo-fascist movement in Europe, has died. The New York Times reports that “Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founding father of France’s modern political far … Continue reading →

Posted in Atrocities, Contemporary France, Empires and Imperialism, European History, European Studies, European Union, French Empire, French History, Genocides, History of Violence, Human Rights, Laws of War, Political Culture, War, Culture, and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Remembering the Charlie Hebdo Attacks

Posted on January 7, 2025 by briansandberg

Remembering the victims of the Charlie Hebdo Attacks on 7 January 2015 in Paris. I was living nearby in the Marais at the time and remember that terrible day and its aftermath vividly. It is hard to believe that 10 … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary France, European History, European Studies, European Union, French History, History of Violence, Museums and Historical Memory, Political Culture, Terrorism | Leave a comment

Coins from the Norman Conquest of England

Posted on October 27, 2024 by briansandberg

Metal detector enthusiasts recently discovered a hoard of coins from the era of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066-1068. The New York Times reports that “the group huddled together in the farmer’s field, staring at the dozen or so … Continue reading →

Posted in European History, European Studies, French History, Material Culture, Medieval History, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

French History at the Paris 2024 Olympics

Posted on September 13, 2024 by briansandberg

The dramatic opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics featured French history and culture in a series of tableaux vivants and performances that referenced early modern French theater and court culture. Several of my colleagues in early modern French history … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary France, Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, European Studies, French History, French Revolution and Napoleon, History in the Media, Museums and Historical Memory, Women and Gender History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

French Colonial History Online Workshops

Posted on January 29, 2024 by briansandberg

The French Colonial Historical Society is organizing two online workshops on using documentary sources at the Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer (ANOM) in France. For additional information or to register, see the French Colonial Historical Society website. Here is the announcement from … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, Contemporary France, Digital Humanities, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, Empires and Imperialism, European History, French Empire, French History, Graduate Work in History, History of Race and Racism, History of Violence, Manuscript Studies, World History | Leave a comment

Beyond the Battlefield Released

Posted on December 22, 2023 by briansandberg

My latest essay has been published in the collective volume on Beyond the Battlefield Reconsidering Warfare in Early Modern Europe, ed. Tryntje Helfferich and Howard Louthan (London: Routledge, 2023), which is scheduled to be released today (22 December 2023). My … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Conflict, Civilians and Refugees in War, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, European Wars of Religion, French Wars of Religion, History of Violence, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Natalie Zemon Davis and Early Modern History

Posted on October 23, 2023 by briansandberg

I deeply saddened to learn today that renowned early modern historian Natalie Zemon Davis has died. Natalie Zemon Davis was a brilliant historian of early modern French, European, Mediterranean, and global history. Natalie’s essays on unruly women, women’s honor, gender … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, French History, French Wars of Religion, History of the Book, Languedoc and Southern France, Mediterranean World, Rare Books and Pamphlets, Reformation History, Religious Violence, Women and Gender History, World History | Leave a comment