The Society for the Study of French History (SSFH) and The Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF) presents the twelfth annual Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture in French History. Professor Penny Roberts (University of Warwick) will give a paper entitled ‘The Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacres 450 years on’.
Professor Roberts is Vice-Provost and Chair of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Warwick and the President of the Society for the Study of French History. Her talk will be held online, due to the current situation around the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professor Roberts has provided the following summary of her talk:
“Michelet famously stated that the Massacre of St Bartholomew was ‘not a day, it was a season’. The historiographical debate about the massacre has proved intense, particularly around where responsibility lay for its instigation, with the crown or with the Guise or even an international Catholic conspiracy. Yet a consensus has also been reached: that the royal intention was to eliminate the Huguenot leadership, who were believed to be conspiring against the crown, not to prompt a general massacre. Nevertheless, in the confusion, local officials and militias made up their own minds how to proceed in Paris and beyond. More recently, through the work of Jérémie Foa, attention has turned to the victims and the perpetrators. In addition, the repercussions of the massacres, the impact in different countries and towns, is to be the focus of a forthcoming volume in French History. My own contribution will return me to the town of Troyes, on which I did my doctorate, to explore its massacre more closely in light of this recent shift in historical interest.”
The talk will take place on 17 January 2022, starting at 6pm (GMT). Registration is essential, though attendance is free. Please reserve your place in advance by signing up through Eventbrite here.
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