Early Modern France
From the Wars of Religion to the court of the Bourbons: politics, printing, and patronage in France, 1500–1800.
Articles on Early Modern France (7)
Cardinal Richelieu: The Bishop Who Engineered the French State
Cardinal Richelieu spent eighteen years as Louis XIII's chief minister, breaking Huguenot military power and...
The Storming of the Bastille: How a Paris Crowd Toppled a Royal Fortress on 14 July 1789
On 14 July 1789, a Paris crowd stormed the Bastille prison-fortress, freed seven inmates, and turned a minor...
The Palace of Versailles: Engineering Absolute Monarchy in Stone and Ritual
Louis XIV turned his father's hunting lodge into the Palace of Versailles, using architecture, water...
Canvases and Kingdoms: Court Patronage and the Flourishing of Portrait Art in Bourbon France, 1660–1720
How Bourbon court patronage transformed French portrait art into a tool of political power and social status...
Paper Empires: The Spread of Printing Technology and State Power in Early Modern France, 1500–1700
How the French monarchy harnessed the printing press between 1500 and 1700 to centralize power, control...
The Edict of Nantes: Securing Religious Toleration in Early Modern France
How Henry IV's Edict of Nantes of 1598 granted French Huguenots legal toleration, how it worked in practice,...
Catherine de' Medici: Architect of Influence in the French Wars of Religion
Catherine de’ Medici ruled France as regent for three sons, blamed for the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre —...
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