Medieval French Society

Several of my recent posts have touched upon the subject of medieval France and today my eye was caught by a short article about the work of a Norwegian-based historian who specialises in French medieval history. In particular she is interested in the position of women in French society at the time. Although the article is quite short, it is a good summary of her thinking and an indicator of emerging trends in our understanding of medieval French life. Her linkage of French institutions of power and the public life of women is valuable and for all the discussion which concentrate on things like the Salic Law women at all levels did play a prominent part in the life of the country.

Long after the formidable Merovingian Queens great heiresses such as those cited in the article, and others like Eleanor of Aquitaine, Jeanne of Champagne-Navarre, Mahaut of Artois, Mary of Burgundy, and Anne of Brittany as well as royal consorts like Blanche of Castile, Yolanda of Aragon and Claude of France were prominent and often decisive makers of history. Their significance in France is arguably greater than in neighbouring realms, and was accepted in a way that the Empress Matilda was not to be in England. I would agree with the argument that women were influential at all levels of society, if less well recorded. At that lower level Marie de France in the twelfth century and Christine de Pisan in the fifteenth century were, by being mould-breaking literary figures, women who did ensure their subsequent fame. From the peasantry Jeanne d’Arc may well have been unique and certainly unprecedented in her achievement, but she was an immensely significant figure in the history of France. Like Marguerite Porrete more than a century earlier she went to the stake, but contemporaries attempts to obliterate them failed. If you like your historical fiction tough and menacing then Maurice Druon’s Accursed Kings are replete with women with agency…Queen Isabella’s career in England, like Queen Margaret of Anjou later on, may well reflect their French heritage.

The article is from Medievalists.net and can be seen at French women had more power in the Middle Ages than after the Revolution

Aspects of the Bourbon Restoration

Whilst looking online into background for my post about King Louis XVIII I came upon these articles which may interest readers. They not only illustrate specific aspects of French political life in the King’s reign but help to indicate the tensions that ran through France at so many levels. Maintains national cohesion was no mean achievement.

Wikipedia has a good entry about the 1814 Charter granted by the King. The article gives a good introduction to its provisions, .points to its similarity to the British constitutional  arrangements at the time, and its status as a document - was it a Fundamental Law or a description of how the legislative life of the country was to be conducted? The article can be read at Charter of 1814

There is a short piece about a real risk to the survival of the main Royal House caused by the assassination of the Duc de Berry, nephew to King Louis, and third in line to the throne in 1820, and the pregnancy of his widow. It is from Elena Maria Vidal’s Tea at Trianon blog and can be seen at The Murder of the Duc de Berry and the Miracle Child

The third is an excellent article, the transcript of a podcast from The Siècle 1814-1914 and looks at the underground opposition to the Restoration in the early 1820s and the reaction to that of the government. Entitled ‘Charbonnerie’ it is a well researched and balanced account of the secret radical groups, imitating contemporary Italian examples, and  which sought to overthrow the Restoration. It describes the response of the government to their discovery,  and their signal failure to incite revolt in those years. Being in print rather than just a sound broadcast it boasts those academic desiderata of having both illustrations and footnotes. It is well worth reading and can be seen at  Episode 23: Charbonnerie

France - Ancient and Modern

Earlier today a friend sent me a version of this map illustrating the election results in the first round of the latest French political beauty contest.

 Results of the first round by department
     Emmanuel Macron      Marine Le Pen      François Fillon
     Jean-Luc Mélenchon

Image: Wikipedia

As my friend pointed out it bears a not inconsiderable resemblance to a map of twelfth century France indicating the extent of the Angevin Empire under King Henry II and King Richard I.

Here, to compare and contrast with it, is the result from 2012 ( with a larger scale map of Paris transposed onto Switzerland)

Image:coffeespoons.me

In this case France looks not entirely dissimilar to the arrangements made by the Treaty of Bretigny-Calais concluded in 1361 between King John II and King Edward III. There's even a hint of the Avignon Papal state in the Rhone valley. Another similarity might be to the aims, but not the reality south of the Loire, of the Anglo-Burgundian alliance after 1419

The survival of regional political allegiances across departmental boundaries and across the centuries is striking.

Both maps also point to a nation deeply divided both socially and culturally and also geographically. However one may also enquire as to what is new therein for France, but the fracture within the north, of the Ile de France and its neighbouring regions, the heartland of the Capetian monarchy, and the foundation of French unity, should attract notice and concern.