French Revolution and Napoleon

« Notules d’Histoire des religions. Première série », Asdiwal 6, 2011, p. 141-151.

by Youri Volokhine

Tosca's prism: three moments of western cultural history

by Deborah Burton

Joseph de Maistre: L'homme à contre-temps

by Lucas Bouchard

Exposé fait en troisième année portant sur la doctrine sociale de Joseph de Maistre.

Police et politique de la ville sous Napoléon

by Moullier Igor

La reescritura de la gesta napoleónica en la novela histórica reciente

by antonio dominguez leiva

La société civile dans l'Etat: organismes consultatifs, expertise et représentation de la société civile sous le Consulat et l'Empire

by Moullier Igor

DÉCRIRE L'ADMINISTRATION: LE DÉVELOPPEMENT DE LA NOTION D'ATTRIBUTION AU DÉBUT DU XIXe SIÈCLE

by Moullier Igor

Une recomposition administrative: le bureau des subsistances, de l'Ancien Régime à la fin du Premier Empire

by Moullier Igor

The Pyramid of Society in the Western Imagination of the Long Nineteenth Century

by Jason Lahman

Arab France: Islam and the Making of Modern Europe, 1798-1831

by Ian Coller

Book review - "Arab France: Islam and the Making of Modern Europe, 1798-1831"

by Mathieu Grenet

review of Ian Coller, Arab France: Islam and the Making of Modern Europe, 1798-1831 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2011).
in Annales, H.S.S. (forthcoming, 2012)

Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891): Maligned Master or Simply Misunderstood

by Chris Maine

Renowned worldwide for such historical military paintings as the spectacular “1805, Les Cuirassiers Avant la Charge," the glorious “1807, FRIEDLAND," and his famed “1814, la Campagne de France," French realist artist, Ernest Meissonier, for over a century has repeatedly been discredited by art critics when it comes to acknowledgment of any sort of significant contribution being made, by the once highly popular genre artist, upon his contemporaries of the realist salon. It is this later image however, and not the former, that is the primary focal point of this paper. For Ernest Meissonier, in fact, was not only to influence the contemporary genre salon painters of his age, but was, for over the course of five decades, to influence further generations of French genre artists as well.

Napoleonic France

by Alan Zhong

Prior to the Napoleonic Empire, the French economy suffered from decades of economic misery. With the death of Louis... more Prior to the Napoleonic Empire, the French economy suffered from decades of economic misery. With the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the gains of the Sun King’s reign would soon be destroyed by the Louis XIV’s inept heirs. For the next half century, the French economy boomed, supported by increased trade and products from the West. Better technology allowed products to be moved quicker from production to market. However, France’s economic downfall lay with the massive uneducated population of the third estate. While the intellectuals of France honed their skills in math, science, and the arts, the commoners suffered greatly. As the population grew to around 25 million, the woes of a largely uneducated people would soon be seen in the French economy.

Jean-Baptiste Vacquette de Gribeauval (1715-89) ["Summary of Gribeauval's Life"]

by Stephen Summerfield

Author: Dr Stephen Summerfield
Title: "Part 1: Summary of Gribeauval’s Life"
Published: Dec 2010

Journal: Smoothbore Ordnance Journal
Issue: 2(01)
Publisher: Ken Trotman Publishing
www.kentrotman.com
Price: £20

http://lboro.academia.edu/StephenSummerfield/Books/443254/Smoothbore_Ordnance_Journal_2

Jean-Baptiste Vacquette de Gribeauval (1715-89) is an interesting man who survived the Salon politics of France... more Jean-Baptiste Vacquette de Gribeauval (1715-89) is an interesting man who survived the Salon politics of France despite his background of being a poor non-noble birth through the patronage of a number of powerful men.

Chronology of Gribeauval gives a timeline view of his life. [Stephen Summerfield (Dec 2010) SOJ 2(01)]

A short biography of Gribeauval in German can be seen in Issue one of this journal translated by Digby Smith.

The Piccard (1816) and Hennebert (1896) are both important biographies of Gribeauval that are among the supporting material for the journal.

He had trained at the Artillery School at La Fère before serving in the French Corps-Royal de l’Artillerie then the Corps des Mineurs. [See Stephen Summerfield (Dec 2010) SOJ 2(02)]

In 1748, he designed the Gribeauval Garrison Carriage that was tested and rejected by the French Artillery. A modified form was used by the Austrians in their defence of Schweidnitz in 1762. [See Stephen Summerfield (Dec 2010) SOJ 2(04)]

Before he joined Austrian service in 1758, Gribeauval strongly objected to the regiment artillery. [Digby Smith, translator (Dec 2010) SOJ 2(05)]

In 1758, he was seconded to the Corps of Engineers in the Austrian armies. [See Stephen Summerfield (Dec 2010) SOJ 2(03)]

In March 1762, Gribeauval while still serving with the Austrian Army wrote a short report in response to the 18 questions from the French Secretary of State for War. These as can be seen in the original French [See Hennebert (1896)] and the translation by Digby Smith shows clearly that they were very general in nature. [Digby Smith, translator (Dec 2010) SOJ 2(06)]

His work from 1763 until his death in 1789 when he returned to France will no doubt be for the future. He is best known to modern readers for overseeing the modernisation of French ordnance and artillery organisation from 1765. Much of his active service was in artillery administration, engineering and mining. There being no distinction made between the branches of technical services at this time.

Published by Ken Trotman Publishing
www.kentrotman.com

St Petersburg Opolchenie (Militia) Organisation

by Stephen Summerfield

The St Petersburg Opolchenie (Russian Militia) was the largest contributer to the Second Okrug (Region). They were heavily engaged in the defence pf St Petersburg in 1812 and fought with distinction at both battles of Polotsk (16-18 Aug and 18-20 Oct 1812). Their more uniform appearance was probably due to the proximity to the Royal Court.

Unlike the other regions it used cohorts rather than battalions and they were not grouped into regiments.

A colleague provided this translation of the organisation of a St Petersburg Cohort to which I have added some annotations.

Review of the Elberfelder Bilderhandschrift by Peter Schuchhardt

by Stephen Summerfield

Peter Schuchhardt, 2004) Die Elberfelder Bilderhandschrift: Bilder und Documente aus Napoleonischer Zeit, VS-Books, Herne, Germany

PAGES: 280 pages
ILLUSTRATIONS: 236 colour illustrations of Johann Carl Hackenberg plus 10 A4 plates by Peter... more PAGES: 280 pages
ILLUSTRATIONS: 236 colour illustrations of Johann Carl Hackenberg plus 10 A4 plates by Peter Schulten c1813.
ISBN: 978-3-932077-17-3
PRICE: 42 Euros for an A4 hardback book.

The Elberfeld plates give a rare contemporary glimpse of the uniforms of the armies that marched through the town of Elberfeld in the County of Berg. From November 1813, this was administered by the Russians until March 1815 when it became part of the Province of Westphalia when it was acquired by Prussia. Elberfeld is now part of the German City of Wuppertal.

The unknown artist who was a resident of Elberfeld captured with simplicity in his 235 watercolour sketches of the troops that he saw marching through his town of Elberfeld from 9 November 1813 to 14 April 1819. Herbert Knötel, Richard Knötel, Georg Scharf, Brauer-Plates and subsequent artists have relied heavily upon these representations for their illustrations. Peter Schuchhardt has corrected some of the miss-identification by Richard Knötel.




Section 1
The first approximately 100 pages gives extracts from the diary of Johann Carl Hackenberg who was a merchant and town councillor of Elberfeld. Peter Schuchhardt has added small thumbnails of the Elberfeld plates when they were produced. This gives an important context to the drawings that had previously been lost and gives better clues as to the identity of the units.

Section 2
The second section of the book (pp 101-222) show two Elberfeld plates per page. The reproduction of the Elberfeld plates is excellent. Peter Schuchhardt should be commended in cleaning them to remove the patina and yellowing of age unlike most other modern reproductions. This allows the reader to appreciate the watercolour plates as they were when they were made.
List of the number of Elberfelder plates by country.

Anhalt 1
Anhalt-Köthen 1
Austria 1
Brunswick 6
Denmark 1
England 1
France 22
Hanover 13
Hanseatic States 5
Hessen-Darmstadt 1
Hessen-Kassel 1
Mecklenburg-Schwerin 5
Mecklenburg-Strelitz 2
Naples 1
Oldenburg 2
Prussia 106
Russia 40
Saxony 9
Saxe-Weimar 1
Sweden 19

Section 3
The third section (pp 223-243) presents ten painting by Peter Schulten who was also in Elberfeld at the time.

Berg Pl-3 & 4
France Pl-1, 2, 3, 8 & 10
Prussia Pl-6
Russia Pl-5, 7 & 9
Saxe-Weimar Pl-10
Westphalia Pl-3 & 4

Appendix
Appendix 1A and 1B give the Elberfeld plates by date and by nationality respectively. This permits the reader to quickly cross-reference the title on the Elberfeld plate, the unit identified by the author, Elberfeld date and when the troops were present in the town. This must have taken a considerable amount of time to compile.


This impressive book is a necessary purchase for anybody interested in the uniforms of the Wars of Liberation whether the military historian, wargamer or painter. The book has now made available to the reader three contemporary source of the diary of Johann Carl Hackenberg, the unknown artist of Elberfeld and Peter Schulten for the same area to add to the important Suhr plates of Hamburg produced between 1808 and 1813.

Dr Stephen Summerfield
Loughborough University
15 July 2011

The Remarkable Role of Women in 16th Century French Basque Law Codes

by Roslyn Frank

This file consists of three lightly revised versions of papers published originally in 1977, along with responses to them by Rachel Bard, Tacoma Community College, Jon Bilbao, University of Nevada, Reno, and Eugene Goyheneche, Université de Pau (France), respectively. The text includes an Appendix with a transcription of the “Doléances du sexes de st. Jean de luz et cibour au roi”, dating from 1789 and which originally appeared in print in 1922.

Paper # 1. The role of the Basque woman and Etxeko-andrea: “The mistress of the house”. Proceedings of the Western Society for French History, Vol. IV, 14-21. Santa Barbara, California, 1977.

Paper # 2. Inheritance, marriage and dowry rights in the Navarrese and French Basque law codes, Proceedings of the Western Society for French History, Vol. IV, 22-31. Santa Barbara, California;

Paper #3. Women's rights and the 'Doléances du Sexe de St. Jean de Luz et Cibour au Roi', Proceedings of the Western Society for French History, Vol. IV, 32-39. Santa Barbara, California.

Napoleon: The Man Who Wrote of Peace While Facing War

by Benjamin W. L. Derhy

Published by the International Napoleonic Society - May 2011

It is clear to anybody who has ever heard of Napoleon that he was a military genius. In just a few years, He managed... more It is clear to anybody who has ever heard of Napoleon that he was a military genius. In just a few years, He managed to conquer the majority of Europe, dividing it between the French empire and satellite states. What most people ignore however, is Napoleon’s life long wish and efforts towards a durable peace in Europe and in the world, as reflected in his official correspondence. With the help of various historical evidence, such as personal letters written by the Emperor and abstract of discourses, this paper intends to shed some light on this mostly unknown aspect of his personality; that of the man who wrote of peace, even when he was facing war.

The Spectacle of Science: The Art of Illusion in Prints of the French Revolution

by Claire Trevien

published in Rupkatha, 3.1

[The article can be found here: more [The article can be found here: http://rupkatha.com/V3/n1/05Art-of-Illusion-in-Prints-of-the-French-Revolution.pdf]

In this article, I will discuss prints from the French Revolution that utilize scientific instruments as political metaphors. France’s fascination with science during the Enlightenment has been well documented, notably by Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent and Christine Blondel, but there is still work to be done on the relationship between Revolutionaries and science. Whether it was seen as an ally or a foe, the spectacle of science attracted Revolutionary artists. This pull reveals not only an understanding of scientific material thanks to the groundwork of the Enlightenment, but also a need to reposition science within a Revolutionary context. What the prints have in common is ‘spectacle’ in the sense that they are pre-occupied with the idea of illusion, not just as a negative act of deception but as a creative and potentially empowering process, allowing the viewer to see beyond reality into a brighter future.

Madame Guizot and Monsieur Guizot: Domestic Pedagogy and the Post-Revolutionary Order in France, 1807-1830

by Robin Bates

published in 'Modern Intellectual History' 8 (1), April 2011: 31-59