France

The Mongol Khans of Medieval France

The kings of medieval France were fascinated by the Mongols, who they saw as great empire builders. Eager to learn more, they amassed a huge archive of knowledge about them

The Corpus Christi Festival, illustration from Le Petit Parisien, 2 July 1905. CCI/Bridgeman Images.

Basque Identity and French Unity

Fearing the loss of regional identity, at the end of the 19th century, the French Basques invented a cultural tradition – but did that make them a threat to national unity?

Allegory on the French Revolution, 18th century. Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris. Public Domain.

How Important was the French Revolution?

Best of times or worst of times, how did the ‘greatest event that has happened in the history of man’ – as per Benjamin Disraeli – change the course of what followed?

Charles de Gaulle, 1942. Heritage Images/TopFoto.

Charles de Gaulle is Sentenced to Death

Court-martialled in absentia on 2 August 1940, the Vichy regime confiscated de Gaulle’s property and condemned him to death.

Pope Innocent III declaring the crusade against the Cathars and an attack on the Albigensians, miniature from the Grandes Chroniques de France ou de Saint Denis, 14th century. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

Hunting Heretics: Inside the Medieval Inquisition

More than 5,000 people were interviewed during the Great Inquisition of medieval Toulouse. What did this mean for those ordinary people called to give evidence?

Revolutionaries brandishing Murat’s journal, Jean-Baptiste Lesueur, c.1793-4. Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris. Public Domain.

‘The Writer’s Lot’ by Robert Darnton review

The Writer’s Lot: Culture and Revolution in Eighteenth-Century France by Robert Darnton discovers a literary flowering in the shadow of the guillotine.

The archbishop of Rheims crowning a queen, from The Coronation Book of Charles V, King of France, c.1365-80.

Medieval Queen by Grace of God

Queenship was transformed in the early Middle Ages, as power came to be derived not just from marriage, but from God.

Fibulae, French, sixth-seventh century. Luisa Ricciarini/Bridgeman Images

The Merovingians: ‘Do-Nothing Kings’?

The Merovingians have a reputation for long hair and barbarity. Instead, the dynasty, born out of the chaos of civil war, was one of peace, diplomacy, and bureaucracy.

‘Le mariage républicain’, by Jean-Baptiste Mallet. Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris. Public Domain.

‘The Soldier’s Reward’ and ‘Matchmaking and the Marriage Market...’ review

The Soldier’s Reward: Love and War in the Age of the French Revolution and Napoleon by Jennifer Ngaire Heuer and Matchmaking and the Marriage Market in Postrevolutionary France by Andrea Mansker reveal romance in a time of revolt.

A hypnotist using the ‘animal magnetism’ method, engraving after Daniel Dodd, 1802. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain.

Pain Management before Anaesthetics

Surgeons trying to eliminate pain eventually arrived at anaesthesia – but not before a contest with older, more unusual therapies. Why was mesmerism so magnetic?