HISTORY 491
EARLY MODERN FRANCE
Professor Susan E. Dinan
Office 306 Hoxie Hall
Telephone 299-2407
E-mail sdinan@liu.edu

Office Hours Mondays and Wednesdays 11:30-12:30, Wednesdays 4:00-5:00, and by appointmentYes, it’s true, this semester you get to learn all about the MOST interesting country on earth during its MOST interesting historical moment. Lucky you. My goal this semester is to provide you with a outline of the major political, social, cultural and economic events that shaped France between 1515 and 1789. I also intend to help you sharpen your analytic and writing skills this semester.

This course is Writing Intensive. You will write three papers over the course of this semester. Each paper must be 7-8 pages in length. The first paper analyzes the articles written by Finlay and Davis about The Return of Martin Guerre and the role of the historian as interpreter of events. The other two papers examine topics that you will choose. These papers will investigate how different historians interpret an event, individual or idea. These two paper must grapple with the ideas of at least 4 different historians and at least 2 of the sources must not be readings for this class. Use the bibliography to help shape a reading list for your paper. These papers als require an annotated bibliography be handed in two weeks before the paper’s submission. It is mandatory that all students see our Writing Fellow about each paper before it is handed into the instructor. No papers will be accepted unless they a meeting has been held with our Writing Fellow. Papers will be returned to students with copious comments made by the instructor, the first and second papers must be re-written in response to the comments, the last paper will not be re-written.

This class is largely a forum for discussion and the exchange of ideas. Your participation is critical. Any student missing more than 3 classes will have his or her grade lowered. All students are expected to contribute to class discussions. On discussion days we will read essays of prominent historians and the class period will be devoted to examining different historians’ interpretations of and events. Students will choose a topic of interest and lead the discussion on that day.

Please follow some basic rules in our class. Arrive on time. Do not come and go in the middle of class except for a dire emergency; getting coffee is not an emergency. Turn off your cell phones and beepers. Bring the books and reader on discussion days. Take notes during lecture and discussion.

Requirements:
First Paper 25%
Second Paper 25%
Third Paper 25%
Final Exam 15%
Participation/Attendance 10%

Required Books:
Barbara Diefendorf, Beneath the Cross. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Dena Goodman, Marie Antoinette: Writings on the Body of a Queen. NY: Routledge, 2003.
R. J. Knect, Richelieu. New York, NY: Routledge, 1991.
Voltaire, Candide. NY: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999.

Course Schedule:
Week One Introduction
9/8 Introduction and Film: The Return of Martin Guerre

9/10 Film: The Return of Martin Guerre

Readings Robert Finlay, “The Refashioning of Martin Guerre” in The American Historical Review 93 / 3 (1988): 553-571.
Natalie Zemon Davis, “On the Lame” in The American Historical Review 93 / 3 (1988): 572-603.

Week Two The 3 Estates
9/15 DISCUSSION

9/17 The Three Estates

Readings Pierre Goubert, “The French Peasantry of the Seventeenth Century: A Regional Example” in T. Aston, ed. Crisis in Europe, 1560-1660. NY: Basic Books, 1965. 150-176.
Robert Darnton, “The Great Cat Massacre” in The Great Cat Massacre and other Episodes in French Cultural History. NY: Basic Books, 1984.


Week Three Urban France
9/22 Urban France

9/24 DISCUSSION

Robert Darnton, “Peasants Tell Tales” in The Great Cat Massacre and other Episodes in French Cultural History. NY: Basic Books, 1984.
Carol Loats, “Gender, Guilds and Work Identity” French Historical Studies 20/1 (1977): 15-30..
* First Paper Due in Class 9/24 *

Week Four France during the Renaissance and Reformation
9/29 The Renaissance in France

10/1 The Reformation in France

Readings Barbara Diefendorf, Beneath the Cross. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1991. Pages 3-106

Week Five France during the Renaissance and Reformation
10/6 NO CLASS

10/8 DISCUSSION

Readings Barbara Diefendorf, Beneath the Cross. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1991. Pages 107-180


Week Six Seventeenth-Century Politics
10/13 Henri IV and the End of Religious War

10/15 Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu

Readings R. J. Knect, Richelieu. NY: Routledge, 1991. Ch. 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 & 9
D. Parker, “The Social Foundations of French Absolutism, 1610—1630”, Past and Present 53 (1971).
* Annotated Bibliography due 10/15*

Week Seven Seventeenth-Century Politics
10/20 DISCUSSION

10/22The Minority of Louis XIV and the Fronde

Readings R.J. Bonney, “The French Civil War, 1649-1653”, European Studies Review 8 (1978).
Ralph Giesey, "State-building in Early Modern France. The Role of Royal Officialdom," Journal of Modern History 55 (1983).
Jeffrey Merrick, “The Cardinal and the Queen” French Historical Studies 18/3 (1994): 667-699.

Week Eight Seventeenth-Century Politics
10/27 Louis XIV Domestic Policy

10/29 Louis XIV Foreign Policy

Readings Ralph E. Giesey, ‘The King Imagined’ in Keith Michael Baker, ed., The French Revolution and the Creation of Modern Political Culture, Volume 1 (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1987), pp.41-59.
Sharon Kettering, "Brokerage at the Court of Louis XIV," The Historical Journal, 36/1 (1993), 69-87.
Jeffrey W. Merrick, The Desacralization of the French Monarchy in the Eighteenth Century. Baton Rouge, 1-48.
* Second Paper Due in class 10/29 *

Week Nine Faiths and Furies
11/3 DISCUSSION

11/5 Seventeenth Century Religion and Witch Hunts

Readings Natalie Zemon Davis, “City Women and Religious Change” in Society and Culture in Early Modern France (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1975), 65-96.
Barbara Diefendorf, “An Age of Gold? Parisian Women, the Holy League, and the Roots of Catholic Renewal ,” in Changing Identities in Early Modern France, ed. Michael Wolfe (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1997), 169-190..
Richard M. Golden, “Satan in Europe: The Geography of Witch Hunts,” in Changing Identities in Early Modern France, ed. Michael Wolfe (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1997), 216-247.

Week Cultural Crises of the Eighteenth Century
11/10 Riot ad Rebellion in Early Modern France

11/12 DISCUSSION
Readings Colin Lucas, "The Crowd and Politics between Ancien Regime and Revolution in France," Roger Chartier, "Do Books Make Revolutions?", in The French Revolution in Social and Political Perspective. NY: Arnold, 1996.
Olwen Hufton. "Social Conflict and the Grain Supply in Eighteenth- Century France," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 14 (1983): 303-331.


Week Eleven Gender and the Political Crises of the Eighteenth Century
11/17 Louis XV

11/19 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Readings Dena Goodman, Marie Antoinette: Writings on the Body of a Queen (NY: Routledge, 2003). Chapters Introduction, 2, 3 and 5.
Thomas E. Kaiser, “Madame de Pompadour and the Theaters of Power”, French Historical Studies, 1 / 4 (1996): 1025-1044.

Week Twelve The Scientific Revolution
11/24 DISCUSSION

11/26 NO CLASS

* Annotated Bibliography due 11/24 *

Week Thirteen The Enlightenment
12/1 The Enlightenment

12/3 DISCUSSION
Readings Voltaire, Candide (NY: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999).

Week Fourteen The Coming of the French Revolution
12/8 The End of the Old Regime – Decay and Revolution

12/10 DISCUSSION
Roger Chartier, “Do Books Make Revolutions?” in The Cultural Origins of the French Revolution. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1991.
Robert Darnton, “Communication Networks” in The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France (NY: Norton, 1996, 181-197.
* Third Paper due in Class 12/10 *