The Civilization of French-speaking countries (formerly "French Civilization II")

In French

The course focuses on the political history of the French kingdom. The main reason for this is that “France” was in large part created by the central political power. The problems of the period studied in this course are different from those studied in the previous one: the royal power is still being reinforced; in the new framework of international relations created after 1648, the most populous kingdom of Europe –which, however, was left behind in the colonization course, is struggling with Spain and, later on, became the main continental power. This was achieved through wars. But wars mean taxes. But taxes are not collected equally; inequality reigns both among persons and among the different regions. In the XVIIIth, the Enlightenment philosophy rendered those inequalities unbearable. Thus the financial crisis which followed the American Independence War led to a political crisis which resulted in the 1789 Revolution.

These developments of the French political history along with the Wars of Religion (second half of the XVIth) the aristocratic rebellions, the role of the Parlement of Paris, and the efforts by the monarch itself to reform the kingdom are the main subjects studied during the semester.

Here too the aim is to help the students to create a mental map into which other information about France may find enter and become intelligible.

Lucien Bély, La France moderne 1498-1789, Paris 2013

Lucien Bély, Dictionnaire de l'Ancien Régime, Paris 2010