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Hilary Bernstein discusses a manuscript genre of urban history writing in Poitiers in the 17th century.

Image courtesy of interviewee. May 8, 2024

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This video video discusses the historical significance of Poitiers, a provincial capital in France during the 17th century, particularly as a judicial and ecclesiastical center. The speaker highlights the influence of elite families who dominated the local political landscape, often reflected in mayoral annals. These annals served both as historical records and as tools for these families to assert their nobility and significance in local history.

The research process involved analyzing these annals, which varied in detail and format, revealing the complexities of local governance and historical memory. The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding these sources as collective efforts that reflect family interests and local politics. The chronicles not only document events but also reflect the broader social dynamics, such as the connection between service in municipal government and the elevation of family status to nobility.

This video video concludes with the implications of these findings for understanding early modern France, asserting that the legacy of the wars of religion impacted local politics well into the 17th century. The speaker aims to contribute further to this discourse in upcoming work focused on family genealogy and memory in early modern France.

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Here are five key points from the video:

1. **Historical Convideo of Poitier**: The 17th-century city of Poitier was a significant provincial capital in France, functioning as a judicial center and a seat for a bishopric. This status made it a hub of elite families who dominated local governance and societal structures.

2. **Mayoral Annals as Historical Sources**: The video discusses how mayoral annals, which record the names of mayors and key events during their terms, serve as informal historical sources. These annals provide insight not only into the city's historical narrative but also reflect the values and priorities of the elite families that contributed to them.

3. **Research Methodology**: The author describes their research process involving meticulous reading of the chronicles to analyze differences, identify authorship, and uncover unique information drawn from private family records that provide a deeper understanding of the city’s history.

4. **Family History and Nobility**: Serving in local government granted families noble status, which was significant for social elevation and exemption from certain taxes. The chronicles thus served to highlight family lineages and their contributions to the city's governance, intertwining personal and communal histories.

5. **Impact of Political Convideo**: The political instability in Poitier, particularly during the wars of religion and subsequent conflicts in the early 17th century, had lasting effects on local governance and community dynamics. Understanding these tensions helps illustrate the broader implications of local political history within the convideo of the French crown's relationship with its provinces.

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Here are key quotes from the video, organized by thematic relevance:

1. **Historical Convideo of Poitier**:
- "In the 17th century, [...] it was especially important because it was a judicial center."
- "This was sort of a situation where a lot of factional conflict developed."

2. **Nature of Informal History Writing**:
- "A lot of this history writing wasn't in the form of formal histories, but rather in the form of mayoral annals."
- "This turned out to be a very rich source for learning not only about the history of the city, but also what was important to these individuals and these families."

3. **Research Methodology**:
- "I read all of these chronicles painstakingly word by word, and looked for ways that they differed."
- "I realized that I had this incredibly rich set of sources that I hadn't really done very much with."

4. **Social and Political Implications**:
- "What serving in this municipal government did [...] was raised their status from commoner to the nobility."
- "Not only is it significant to talk about the history of the town, but simply by listing these mayors, these authors are making a point about the age of their family."

5. **Influence of Family on Historical Narratives**:
- "These kinds of questions about who had been on the side of the crown, who had been the royalists, you know, was significant to everyone."
- "These authors, [...] hitching their own family history to the broader history of their community."

6. **Study Findings and Broader Implications**:
- "Royal officials [...] were still intensely involved in the life of their towns."
- "The implications of the wars of religion [...] were far from over several generations later."

7. **Insights on Historical Writing**:
- "We need to look at history writing or the construction of memory as a group process."
- "This process [...] winds up creating a whole historical tradition."

8. **Personal Reflections on Ongoing Research**:
- "I'm currently writing my third book on [...] family genealogy and memory, in early modern France."

These quotes encapsulate the author's insights on the historical convideo of Poitier, the nature of informal historical writing, the social implications of mayoral chronicles, and the ongoing relevance of family history in shaping local narratives.

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Here are a few articles that might be similar in theme or topic to the video you :

1. **"The Role of Town Chronicles in Early Modern France"**
This article explores how town chronicles served as both historical documents and instruments for local elites to assert their power and nobility. It discusses specific case studies from various provincial capitals, focusing on governance, memory, and social dynamics.

2. **"Elite Families and Political Power in 17th Century France"**
An examination of the influence of noble families in shaping local politics during the 17th century in France. The article analyzes how lineage and power dynamics affected municipal decisions and the recording of history.

3. **"Judicial and Ecclesiastical Authority in Early Modern Provincial France"**
This piece discusses the dual roles of judicial and ecclesiastical institutions in provincial capitals like Poitiers during the 17th century. It covers the interplay between local governance and religious authority, highlighting the implications for historical narratives.

4. **"Historical Memory and Nobility in 17th Century French Towns"**
A deep dive into how families utilized historical records to bolster their social status and nobility, focusing on examples from various towns in France. It looks at the broader implications of these practices for local and national history.

5. **"The Influence of the Wars of Religion on Local Governance in France"**
This article outlines the lasting impacts of the wars of religion on political structures and community organization in French provinces, emphasizing how these historical events shaped familial loyalties and political power in towns like Poitiers.

6. **"Genealogy and Civic Identity in Early Modern France"**
An exploration of how genealogical research has revealed the connections between family history and civic identity in early modern France, including discussions on the role of municipal service in enhancing familial prestige.

These articles would likely provide further insights and complementary perspectives to the themes discussed in the video about Poitiers and the historical convideo of 17th century France.

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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In the 17th century, was sort of a, a mid-sized,

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provincial capital, in France.

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Um, it was, especially important

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because it was a judicial center.

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Um, also it was the seat of a bishop prick.

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So it had, an important set

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of elite families, you know, who sort

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of dominated the scene.

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They held, royal offices,

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and they also, many of them held positions within,

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the city government, the Coral Deville.

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And so they had, many of these families had sort

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of dominated the re the city for, quite a while as some

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of them, several generations.

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And so this was sort of a situation where, a lot of,

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sort of, factional conflict, developed.

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Uh, and that's really important for the article

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that I wrote, on, you know,

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informal history writing,

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because a lot of this history writing inputs, yay,

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wasn't in the form of, you know, like sort

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of formal histories,

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but rather in the form of mayoral annals.

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So they simply listed who was mayor,

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for every year for centuries,

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and then had little Chronicles about

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what happened in the city at that time.

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And this turned out to be a very rich, source,

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for learning not only about the history of the city,

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but also what was important, to these individuals

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and these families who are sort

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of dominating the political scene, in this city.

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I began, so I came up with this topic,

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this particular topic, looking at these mayoral annals.

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Uh, 'cause I was in the middle of writing my second book,

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which is, it's called Historical Communities.

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It's on urban history writing in France in the 16th

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and the 17th centuries.

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And, in doing that work, I, I was working on a chapter

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where I wanted to follow the story, from, the kind

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of, sort of implicit historical writing

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that occurs in archives,

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and then sort of follow how that kind of

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implicit historical work, can then fed into,

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published, you know, sort of fully written

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local urban histories.

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And so, because I had already worked on Poitier,

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I had done a book on political culture in,

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in the 16th century, it was natural for me to turn

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to Poitier for some of that information.

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Um, but then as I worked through some notes

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that I had taken, you know, 30 years earlier,

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because I was working on my dissertation, I realized

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that I had this incredibly rich, set of sources

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that I hadn't really done very much

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with either in my first book,

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or that I couldn't also really use much in my second book.

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And so I just thought this was a really rich

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kind of source to work

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With. So,

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yeah, so this article is based, as I said, on,

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mayoral Annals.

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And so, so what these works look like, so they vary.

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Some are incredibly carefully done,

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are morals, meaning they have, the list of all

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of the mayors year by year.

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But they also, focus on their arms, you know, sort

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of elaborately painted some of them.

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Some of them are really very well done.

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And then they have, you know, little text chronicles about

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what happened year by year.

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Uh, some of them are not nearly that, you know, carefully

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redacted, let's say.

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Some of them are just lists, you know, just words,

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that, that list, again, who was mayor

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and, what some events that occurred during

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that mayoral year.

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Um, some are copied all at once,

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but others, clearly, sort of existed

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as one list, but then was added.

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They were added to over time.

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So you sometimes see multiple authors,

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working on these lists over time.

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Uh, and so what you wind up with is this sort of body

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of work that was clearly worked on over

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numerous generations, added to copied,

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summing convenient things left out,

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in a process that probably began in the 16th century.

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And that actually goes all the way to the 18th century.

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Although what I'm focusing on in,

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in this particular work are the, the Chronicles

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that were written up in the 17th century.

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Uh, and so how did I do the research?

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Well, I, I read all of these chronicles

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painstakingly word by word,

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and looked for ways that they differed, you know,

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and emphasis in them, trying to tease out, you know,

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well, who wrote them, what are the relationships

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between them, and then what was especially important, to

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the people who, you know, kind

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of put their stamp on certain ones

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of these chronicles and not others.

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Um, and also as I worked on them, I realized that some

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of them really are unique.

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They have different information than anyone else.

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And often, this is seems to be

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because they were drawing on private family writings,

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in French, they're called, generally called, they're,

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do documents that are sort of a combination

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of family accounts, you know,

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family happenings like births

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and deaths, baptisms,

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but then also, notes of events that occurred,

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in the town.

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And some of these,

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mayoral annals actually draw on these kinds

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of family writings,

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that no longer exist in any other form.

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So they're, they sometimes provide what I like to think of

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as a kind of a shadow archive of writings, you know,

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that existed in the 17th century,

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but, you know, are long gone, for us.

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And so, yeah. So I just basically,

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I read all of these really carefully.

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Um, my, process was made easier in that some

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of these writings are digitized.

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Uh, some of them are in Poitier, some of them are not.

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Some of them are in Paris,

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because there, there were people who collected these kinds

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of writings, and some of them have wound up in the

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Bibliotech de France.

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And so, yeah.

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And so basically it's like, what did people say,

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in this year versus that year?

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And what can that tell me about the interests of the people

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who are drawing up these chronicles?

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Oh, yes. I certainly went to France, numerous times.

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Um, so as I, I said

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before, my original work,

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was from when I was actually doing my dissertation,

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decades ago.

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And I spent a year and a half in Poitier when I was,

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you know, working on my dissertation.

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Uh, but then I've been back to France numerous times.

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And for this project, I, I went back.

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Uh, so not everything has been digitized, you know,

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by a long suit.

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And so I was working, you know,

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in the Bibliotech Municipal of Poitier.

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Um, and there are some

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of these lists also in the departmental archives,

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also located in Poitier.

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But then, as I mentioned, there are, materials also,

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in the manuscript, library of the Lio Tegna, CNL.

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And then in one time that I was back,

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I even found some information relevant to this, in the,

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national archives, in, in France, also in Paris.

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So, yeah, so a combination of,

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looking at the actual manuscripts themselves,

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and being very fortunate to be able to use the,

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some digitized writings.

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And I have to say that the Bibliotech Municipal

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of Poitier has been incredibly helpful in actually

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digitizing some of the materials I need.

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So I didn't have to sit in the library

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for months and months and months.

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But, they were very helpful in making the, some

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of these materials available to me.

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Also, one of the main, concerns of these, of the,

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the individuals and the families who were in fact,

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collecting these Maral Chronicles and writing them

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and adding to them, was in fact, to show,

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the importance

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of their own families and their own family

08:55.235 --> 08:58.325
Circles to the history of the town.

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Um, and so one important thing to know, is that,

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was one of the French, cities that,

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from the 14th century had been accorded a privilege,

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which was that anyone who served as mayor,

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or Alderman, in the city council then,

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could consider themselves noble and,

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and their children at Noble as well.

09:28.225 --> 09:31.405
So what serving in this municipal government did

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for these families was raised their status from commoner

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to the nobility.

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Um, it's a lesser nobility than being, you know, somebody

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who goes and fights in wars, but it's still important,

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and it gets you off the tax rules,

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which is probably the most important thing.

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And so, showing a, his, family history,

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that goes back in time, helps

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to demonstrate, a, a particular,

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social condition, for one's family,

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and for, you know, all of one's, you know, allies,

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family circle that, one is married into.

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So not only is it significant to talk about the history

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of the town, but simply by listing these mayors,

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these authors are making a point

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about the age of their family,

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how long they've been noble,

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and sort of the overall significance of the family.

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And some of the, some

10:38.105 --> 10:41.185
of the remarks in the Chronicles point to this.

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Occasionally there are little sort of genealogical comments

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also in these chronicles, you know, so

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and so who was mayor in the 15th century,

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was the originator of this family

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that's still in Poie today.

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And then they're mentioned.

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Um, so, there's a very important sort

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of social aspect of these chronicles as well to, you know,

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talk about the, the, the significance, you know,

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of these families over time.

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So that's another very, significant, element of

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what, these authors, think they're doing, you know,

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when they are writing this and,

11:20.825 --> 11:24.305
and they see this as, you know, going along

11:24.305 --> 11:26.905
with not being different from, you know,

11:26.905 --> 11:28.345
asserting the importance

11:28.345 --> 11:30.705
and the significance of the town over time.

11:31.005 --> 11:34.785
So they're, in a sense, hitching their own family history

11:35.765 --> 11:39.065
to the hi to the, the broader history of,

11:39.285 --> 11:40.345
of their community.

11:40.745 --> 11:41.945
I, I can talk about that.

11:42.505 --> 11:45.185
I can talk about that, about why these,

11:45.805 --> 11:46.825
why this is important.

11:47.095 --> 11:49.025
Yeah. So, yeah.

11:49.165 --> 11:54.005
So w why were these, questions so important outside of,

11:55.385 --> 11:57.685
outside of the city government

11:57.825 --> 12:00.725
and beyond, these elite families?

12:01.155 --> 12:05.285
Well, partly, they were significant,

12:05.285 --> 12:09.005
because, so the relationship,

12:09.005 --> 12:12.445
between these kinds of cities,

12:12.665 --> 12:16.205
and the French crown were profoundly important.

12:16.985 --> 12:18.525
And so, Poitier,

12:19.225 --> 12:23.245
by the 17th century had developed a reputation of,

12:24.105 --> 12:27.885
being a problematic town politically.

12:28.385 --> 12:31.445
So it had been a town that in the 16th century

12:31.445 --> 12:34.565
during the wars of religion, had sided

12:34.635 --> 12:39.045
with the Catholic League, against, Henry iv.

12:39.785 --> 12:41.685
Uh, and it was actually the, the center

12:41.985 --> 12:45.525
of the Catholic League, in Tu, for several years.

12:46.825 --> 12:50.245
So it was already, you know,

12:50.525 --> 12:53.045
a bit problematic in, in that respect.

12:53.505 --> 12:58.045
Uh, it had revolted against, a royal tax,

12:58.305 --> 13:02.205
in, the very early 17th century, the c**k,

13:02.265 --> 13:07.005
and now there was all of this, you know,

13:07.105 --> 13:10.125
all of the, all of these problems,

13:10.385 --> 13:13.285
and, all of this unrest, in this city.

13:13.945 --> 13:17.405
Uh, and the problem is, is that, these kinds

13:17.405 --> 13:19.525
of factional, issues

13:19.825 --> 13:22.205
and this kind of unrest actually continued.

13:22.745 --> 13:27.125
So it was important, you know, to everyone

13:27.225 --> 13:31.605
for the privileges of the city, for its success as,

13:32.285 --> 13:34.925
a royal administrative center for it

13:34.925 --> 13:38.525
to have a good relationship, with the Monarch.

13:39.025 --> 13:43.125
And so, you know, some of these questions about, you know,

13:43.185 --> 13:47.525
who had been on the side of the crown,

13:47.785 --> 13:51.125
who had been the royalists, you know, was significant

13:51.465 --> 13:52.965
to everyone,

13:52.965 --> 13:57.005
because it really, guaranteed, the wellbeing

13:57.225 --> 14:01.325
and, you know, the, the continual success,

14:01.385 --> 14:03.925
of the city and its entire population.

14:04.225 --> 14:07.125
So that's why these issues, you know, were, important,

14:07.705 --> 14:11.125
to, a wider group of people

14:11.305 --> 14:12.845
beyond just the families

14:12.845 --> 14:15.005
who dominated the, the city government.

14:15.475 --> 14:16.685
Yeah. Okay.

14:16.785 --> 14:19.925
So, I think there are a bunch of,

14:20.325 --> 14:21.725
takeaways from this.

14:22.385 --> 14:23.925
Uh, so, okay.

14:24.145 --> 14:26.765
Within, the realm just of people

14:26.785 --> 14:29.685
who are interested in early modern France,

14:30.145 --> 14:34.485
two takeaways are, so first this is

14:34.585 --> 14:38.885
yet more evidence, if we need that, that,

14:39.635 --> 14:41.685
that royal officials, you know, the people

14:41.785 --> 14:45.925
who own owned their royal offices and were judges

14:46.265 --> 14:49.605
or financial officials within the Royal Administration,

14:50.275 --> 14:55.165
were still intensely involved, in the life

14:55.345 --> 14:58.565
of their towns, the political life,

14:58.665 --> 15:01.685
the cultural life,

15:02.265 --> 15:06.445
and, so this was still a crucial,

15:07.245 --> 15:09.485
location for them and for their interests.

15:09.585 --> 15:13.205
So that's one really significant, takeaway from this.

15:13.705 --> 15:17.885
Um, another, to talk about questions

15:17.885 --> 15:22.125
that are important to French historians is that,

15:22.745 --> 15:26.285
the, the implications of the wars of religion

15:26.345 --> 15:30.645
and the 16th century were, far from over

15:31.495 --> 15:33.105
several generations later.

15:33.405 --> 15:35.745
And that is something that French historians have been

15:35.745 --> 15:37.105
finding more and more.

15:37.525 --> 15:40.705
Um, you know, several decades ago, historians tended

15:40.705 --> 15:43.865
to think, okay, well, you know, the wars

15:43.865 --> 15:48.305
of religion were over in, say, 1598 with the edict of non,

15:48.805 --> 15:52.105
and, you know, now we're on, you know, to the,

15:52.165 --> 15:54.145
the great century, the 17th century.

15:54.925 --> 15:56.745
Uh, but in fact, what you find,

15:56.805 --> 15:59.185
if you look at municipal culture, you know,

15:59.185 --> 16:02.105
everywhere in France, is that there are still fights,

16:02.635 --> 16:05.705
there are still debates, people still remember,

16:06.005 --> 16:07.745
and that that is very significant,

16:07.875 --> 16:11.385
especially on the local level, in determining how,

16:11.605 --> 16:12.785
you know, people live their lives.

16:12.965 --> 16:16.705
So, so those are two kind of internal takeaways,

16:17.215 --> 16:18.545
more widely for people

16:18.605 --> 16:21.585
who don't necessarily focus on early modern France.

16:23.225 --> 16:27.625
I think some, very significant takeaways are that,

16:27.685 --> 16:30.425
so when we look at history writing

16:30.765 --> 16:35.585
or the construction of memory, we need to

16:36.135 --> 16:40.865
look at this as, as a group process, where

16:41.385 --> 16:45.745
numerous people wind up, contributing to this,

16:46.445 --> 16:49.545
just through their, sort of their everyday activities

16:49.845 --> 16:52.385
and frankly, their, their selfish views.

16:52.725 --> 16:57.305
You know, they, they write up these, mayoral chronicles,

16:57.965 --> 17:00.105
because they're interested in this and

17:00.895 --> 17:05.345
because their, their families, you know, did serve

17:05.365 --> 17:09.505
as mayor or as alderman in this, in this town.

17:09.965 --> 17:14.065
And they therefore, had access to,

17:14.465 --> 17:16.745
becoming noble, which was extremely important,

17:16.845 --> 17:17.905
you know, to these families.

17:18.165 --> 17:22.745
But through this process of, you know, co borrowing a list

17:22.745 --> 17:26.425
of mayors, copying it, adding to it,

17:26.425 --> 17:29.505
keeping it in the family, you know, then,

17:29.595 --> 17:32.265
later on another generation finds it

17:32.285 --> 17:35.345
and adds to it that this, this process, this sort

17:35.345 --> 17:36.705
of cumulative process,

17:37.435 --> 17:40.305
winds up creating a whole historical tradition.

17:40.525 --> 17:42.185
And so I think that's really important.

17:42.885 --> 17:47.865
And what it also shows is that, we shouldn't be,

17:48.725 --> 17:50.965
so, careful to try

17:50.965 --> 17:54.285
to divide things rigidly into genres of writing.

17:54.865 --> 17:58.565
So in this case, a, a medium,

17:58.965 --> 18:02.365
a mayoral chronicle was informed by, as I said, you know,

18:02.365 --> 18:03.685
local family writings.

18:04.225 --> 18:08.045
Um, genealogies also factored into this kind

18:08.065 --> 18:09.245
of history writing.

18:09.785 --> 18:13.045
Uh, some of it was done, as I said, in people's homes

18:13.185 --> 18:14.685
for their own family benefit.

18:15.665 --> 18:19.125
But some of these lists wound up becoming,

18:19.645 --> 18:22.285
official parts of the municipal archives

18:22.425 --> 18:27.165
and were kept, you know, at, you know, at City Hall

18:27.785 --> 18:31.565
and so official, unofficial different kinds of genres.

18:31.755 --> 18:36.245
They all sort of interacted, in a process,

18:36.545 --> 18:40.725
of, creating, a kind of memory that, as I said,

18:40.725 --> 18:42.205
was important to the people who wrote it,

18:42.205 --> 18:44.645
but also to the community at large.

18:45.105 --> 18:49.125
And then finally, I think it says a lot about how family

18:49.725 --> 18:53.525
interests wind up influencing politics

18:53.905 --> 18:58.245
and political culture, in these early modern towns.

18:58.345 --> 19:02.525
And actually, that is the topic that I am currently writing,

19:02.865 --> 19:07.085
my third book on, which I'm calling,

19:07.825 --> 19:10.765
family Genealogy

19:10.985 --> 19:13.245
and Memory, in early modern France.

19:13.945 --> 19:16.525
And so I've kind of continued to work on these issues,

19:16.525 --> 19:17.845
including in Poitier.

19:18.345 --> 19:20.685
And so I hope I will have quite a bit more

19:20.825 --> 19:23.925
to say on these issues, going forward.

19:24.345 --> 19:25.765
So those are, are, I think the,

19:25.785 --> 19:27.205
the major takeaways from this.

Power Dynamics in 17th Century French Cities

00:00:00 - In the 17th century, was sort of a, a mid-sized, provincial capital, in France. it was, especially important because it was a judicial center. also it was the seat of a bishop prick. So it had, an important set of elite families, you know, who sort of dominated the scene. They held, royal offices, and they also, many of them held positions within,
00:00:35 - And so they had, many of these families had sort of dominated the re the city for, quite a while as some of them, several generations. And so this was sort of a situation where, a lot of, sort of, factional conflict, developed. and that's really important for the article that I wrote, on, you know, informal history writing, because a lot of this history writing inputs, yay,
00:01:07 - of formal histories, but rather in the form of mayoral annals. So they simply listed who was mayor, for every year for centuries, and then had little Chronicles about what happened in the city at that time. And this turned out to be a very rich, source, for learning not only about the history of the city, but also what was important, to these individuals and these families who are sort of dominating the political scene, in this city.
00:01:42 - this particular topic, looking at these mayoral annals. 'cause I was in the middle of writing my second book, which is, it's called Historical Communities. It's on urban history writing in France in the 16th and the 17th centuries. And, in doing that work, I, I was working on a chapter where I wanted to follow the story, from, the kind of, sort of implicit historical writing that occurs in archives, and then sort of follow how that kind of
00:02:17 - published, you know, sort of fully written local urban histories. And so, because I had already worked on Poitier, I had done a book on political culture in, in the 16th century, it was natural for me to turn to Poitier for some of that information. but then as I worked through some notes that I had taken, you know, 30 years earlier, because I was working on my dissertation, I realized
00:02:47 - that I hadn't really done very much with either in my first book, or that I couldn't also really use much in my second book. And so I just thought this was a really rich kind of source to work With. So, yeah, so this article is based, as I said, on, mayoral Annals. And so, so what these works look like, so they vary. Some are incredibly carefully done,

Chronicles of 17th Century Mayoral Annals

00:03:19 - of the mayors year by year. But they also, focus on their arms, you know, sort of elaborately painted some of them. Some of them are really very well done. And then they have, you know, little text chronicles about what happened year by year. some of them are not nearly that, you know, carefully redacted, let's say. Some of them are just lists, you know, just words,
00:03:49 - and, what some events that occurred during that mayoral year. some are copied all at once, but others, clearly, sort of existed as one list, but then was added. They were added to over time. So you sometimes see multiple authors, working on these lists over time. and so what you wind up with is this sort of body
00:04:22 - numerous generations, added to copied, summing convenient things left out, in a process that probably began in the 16th century. And that actually goes all the way to the 18th century. Although what I'm focusing on in, in this particular work are the, the Chronicles that were written up in the 17th century. and so how did I do the research?
00:04:55 - painstakingly word by word, and looked for ways that they differed, you know, and emphasis in them, trying to tease out, you know, well, who wrote them, what are the relationships between them, and then what was especially important, to the people who, you know, kind of put their stamp on certain ones
00:05:24 - and also as I worked on them, I realized that some of them really are unique. They have different information than anyone else. And often, this is seems to be because they were drawing on private family writings, in French, they're called, generally called, they're, do documents that are sort of a combination of family accounts, you know, family happenings like births
00:05:57 - but then also, notes of events that occurred, in the town. And some of these, mayoral annals actually draw on these kinds of family writings, that no longer exist in any other form. So they're, they sometimes provide what I like to think of as a kind of a shadow archive of writings, you know, that existed in the 17th century, but, you know, are long gone, for us.

Researching Mayoral Chronicles in 17th Century France

00:06:27 - I read all of these really carefully. my, process was made easier in that some of these writings are digitized. some of them are in Poitier, some of them are not. Some of them are in Paris, because there, there were people who collected these kinds of writings, and some of them have wound up in the Bibliotech de France. And so, yeah. And so basically it's like, what did people say, in this year versus that year?
00:06:58 - who are drawing up these chronicles? yes. I certainly went to France, numerous times. so as I, I said before, my original work, was from when I was actually doing my dissertation, decades ago. And I spent a year and a half in Poitier when I was, you know, working on my dissertation. but then I've been back to France numerous times. And for this project, I, I went back. so not everything has been digitized, you know,
00:07:29 - And so I was working, you know, in the Bibliotech Municipal of Poitier. and there are some of these lists also in the departmental archives, also located in Poitier. But then, as I mentioned, there are, materials also, in the manuscript, library of the Lio Tegna, CNL. And then in one time that I was back, I even found some information relevant to this, in the,
00:08:02 - So, yeah, so a combination of, looking at the actual manuscripts themselves, and being very fortunate to be able to use the, some digitized writings. And I have to say that the Bibliotech Municipal of Poitier has been incredibly helpful in actually digitizing some of the materials I need. So I didn't have to sit in the library for months and months and months. But, they were very helpful in making the, some
00:08:32 - Also, one of the main, concerns of these, of the, the individuals and the families who were in fact, collecting these Maral Chronicles and writing them and adding to them, was in fact, to show, the importance of their own families and their own family Circles to the history of the town. and so one important thing to know, is that,
00:09:08 - from the 14th century had been accorded a privilege, which was that anyone who served as mayor, or Alderman, in the city council then, could consider themselves noble and, and their children at Noble as well. So what serving in this municipal government did for these families was raised their status from commoner

Family Legacy and Nobility in 17th Century

00:09:37 - it's a lesser nobility than being, you know, somebody who goes and fights in wars, but it's still important, and it gets you off the tax rules, which is probably the most important thing. And so, showing a, his, family history, that goes back in time, helps to demonstrate, a, a particular, social condition, for one's family, and for, you know, all of one's, you know, allies,
00:10:12 - So not only is it significant to talk about the history of the town, but simply by listing these mayors, these authors are making a point about the age of their family, how long they've been noble, and sort of the overall significance of the family. And some of the, some of the remarks in the Chronicles point to this.
00:10:45 - also in these chronicles, you know, so and so who was mayor in the 15th century, was the originator of this family that's still in Poie today. And then they're mentioned. so, there's a very important sort of social aspect of these chronicles as well to, you know, talk about the, the, the significance, you know, of these families over time. So that's another very, significant, element of
00:11:18 - when they are writing this and, and they see this as, you know, going along with not being different from, you know, asserting the importance and the significance of the town over time. So they're, in a sense, hitching their own family history to the hi to the, the broader history of, of their community. I, I can talk about that. I can talk about that, about why these,
00:11:47 - Yeah. So, yeah. So w why were these, questions so important outside of, outside of the city government and beyond, these elite families? Well, partly, they were significant, because, so the relationship, between these kinds of cities, and the French crown were profoundly important.
00:12:19 - by the 17th century had developed a reputation of, being a problematic town politically. So it had been a town that in the 16th century during the wars of religion, had sided with the Catholic League, against, Henry iv. and it was actually the, the center of the Catholic League, in Tu, for several years. So it was already, you know,

Factional Conflict in Early 17th Century France

00:12:53 - it had revolted against, a royal tax, in, the very early 17th century, the c**k, and now there was all of this, you know, all of the, all of these problems, and, all of this unrest, in this city. and the problem is, is that, these kinds of factional, issues and this kind of unrest actually continued.
00:13:27 - for the privileges of the city, for its success as, a royal administrative center for it to have a good relationship, with the Monarch. And so, you know, some of these questions about, you know, who had been on the side of the crown, who had been the royalists, you know, was significant to everyone,
00:13:57 - and, you know, the, the continual success, of the city and its entire population. So that's why these issues, you know, were, important, to, a wider group of people beyond just the families who dominated the, the city government. Yeah. Okay. So, I think there are a bunch of, takeaways from this. so, okay.
00:14:26 - who are interested in early modern France, two takeaways are, so first this is yet more evidence, if we need that, that, that royal officials, you know, the people who own owned their royal offices and were judges or financial officials within the Royal Administration, were still intensely involved, in the life
00:14:58 - the cultural life, and, so this was still a crucial, location for them and for their interests. So that's one really significant, takeaway from this. another, to talk about questions that are important to French historians is that, the, the implications of the wars of religion
00:15:31 - several generations later. And that is something that French historians have been finding more and more. you know, several decades ago, historians tended to think, okay, well, you know, the wars of religion were over in, say, 1598 with the edict of non, and, you know, now we're on, you know, to the, the great century, the 17th century. but in fact, what you find,

Memory and Politics in Early Modern France

00:15:59 - everywhere in France, is that there are still fights, there are still debates, people still remember, and that that is very significant, especially on the local level, in determining how, you know, people live their lives. So, so those are two kind of internal takeaways, more widely for people who don't necessarily focus on early modern France. I think some, very significant takeaways are that,
00:16:30 - or the construction of memory, we need to look at this as, as a group process, where numerous people wind up, contributing to this, just through their, sort of their everyday activities and frankly, their, their selfish views. You know, they, they write up these, mayoral chronicles,
00:17:00 - because their, their families, you know, did serve as mayor or as alderman in this, in this town. And they therefore, had access to, becoming noble, which was extremely important, you know, to these families. But through this process of, you know, co borrowing a list of mayors, copying it, adding to it, keeping it in the family, you know, then,
00:17:32 - and adds to it that this, this process, this sort of cumulative process, winds up creating a whole historical tradition. And so I think that's really important. And what it also shows is that, we shouldn't be, so, careful to try to divide things rigidly into genres of writing. So in this case, a, a medium, a mayoral chronicle was informed by, as I said, you know,
00:18:04 - genealogies also factored into this kind of history writing. some of it was done, as I said, in people's homes for their own family benefit. But some of these lists wound up becoming, official parts of the municipal archives and were kept, you know, at, you know, at City Hall and so official, unofficial different kinds of genres. They all sort of interacted, in a process,
00:18:40 - was important to the people who wrote it, but also to the community at large. And then finally, I think it says a lot about how family interests wind up influencing politics and political culture, in these early modern towns. And actually, that is the topic that I am currently writing, my third book on, which I'm calling,

Exploring Memory in Early Modern France

00:19:25 - and Memory, in early modern France. And so I've kind of continued to work on these issues, including in Poitier. And so I hope I will have quite a bit more to say on these issues, going forward. So those are, are, I think the, the major takeaways from this.

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