History 2091: The History of Paris:

The “City of Light” from Julius Caesar to Jacques Chirac, 50 BCE – 2000 CE

SYLLABUS

Summer 2016

Troy Tice M/T/W/TH 14h30-18hOffice: Starbucks, 90 Rue Saint-Dominique

Combes 505Office Hours: M/T/W/TH 13h30-14h20and by appointmentE-mail: ttice@aup.edu

Course Description

Paris. The “City of Light” is many things to many people, and always has been. Some are enchanted by its glittering boulevards, fashionable boutiques and gourmet restaurants – the very definition of chic. For others, its magnetic pull lies in its history and monuments: the soaring medieval vaults of Notre-Dame Cathedral, for instance, or the treasures of the Musée du Louvre. By holding this syllabus in your hands and by being in this place, you to0 have felt the draw of Paris. This course, through its examination of the history of the “City of Light,” seeks to help you understand why.

It is divided into two parts. The first covers the history of Paris from its origins as a Celtic fishing village up to the cusp of the French Revolution. This is an exciting historical journey where we will meet – among other Parisians – (English!)

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criminals on a fourteenth-century crime spree; an eyewitness to the horror of the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in Paris during the French Wars of Religion; coffee-sipping philosophes like Voltaire; and kings from Philip Augustus to Louis XIV. The second part of the course covers the history of Paris from the Revolution to the present. In addition to the blood-thirsty sans-culottes of the Revolution and the rioting students of 1968, the second half of our historical journey will introduce us to bohemian painters and writers, the first department store shoppers, and the most famous of city-planners: Baron Haussmann. Although attention will be given to the growth of the city over time, this course focuses on understanding how Parisians of all eras conceived the urban environment around them – its monuments, neighborhoods, etc – as well as themselves. Hence, it prioritizes a critical yet empathetic reading of sources written by or about past Parisians – what historians call primary sources – in order to reconstruct their social, intellectual, religious, political and cultural worlds.

Course Promises

This course makes a set of promises to you (assuming you fulfill the requirements below). By the end of the course you should be able:

To describe the major social, intellectual, religious, political and cultural shifts that have occurred among Parisians since the Middle Ages.

To read like historians, that is to say, to approach primary and secondary sources both with empathy and a well-honed critical eye.

To express your ideas and interpretations in a clear and cogent manner, both in written assignments and in class discussions.

Course Requirements

Lectures, Discussions and VisitsEach class session consists of a lecture, a discussion, and a visit to a

monument or museum in Paris. The lecture provides the necessary historical background, while the discussion allows you to share your thoughts and interpretations of the readings with your classmates. Be sure to ALWAYS have the day’s readings on hand when you come to class. Although I will get the discussion going with different activities, I strongly recommend taking stock of your thoughts beforehand, perhaps by jotting down some questions the readings raised for you. As far as classroom etiquette is concerned, please be respectful of your fellow classmates. Turn off all electronic devices – including laptops – before class begins. On visits, please be considerate of others touring the site.

Attendance is required for ALL lectures, discussions, and visits, and will be monitored. Due to the intensive class schedule, two or more absences will automatically result in your receiving an “F” in the course. If you know in advance that you will have to miss a class for a medical or religious reason, please let me know in writing ASAP.

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Grading

Your grade in the course will be based on the following criteria:

(1) Attendance, but most importantly, engaged and active participation in discussion – 30%

(2) Two in-class essays -- 35%(3) One book review (3-5 pages) –- 35%

Texts

REQUIRED :

John Merriman, Massacre: The Life and Death of the Paris Commune of 1871 (Yale UP, 2014)*

Articles and primary sources available on Blackboard.

*The book may be downloaded through the library website under “Find Ebooks and Reference Materials.” Should you wish to consult a physical copy, it is easily findable on Amazon.fr.

RECOMMENDED:

Colin Jones, Paris: Biography of a City (Penguin Books, 2006) **

**A copy of the book will be available on reserve in the library.

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SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND VISITS

Part One: From Gallic Paris to the Cusp of the Revolution

(Towers of Notre-Dame de Paris, 13th c.)

Wed, 29 June: Introduction[Visit: Musée de Cluny]Readings: William Chester Jordan, “Richard the Englishman and his Gang,” in From England to France: Felony and Exile in the High Middle Ages, pp. 105-12.Primary Documents: Excerpts from Jean de Jandun, Treatise on the Praises of Paris

Thurs, 30 June: Medieval Paris[Visit: Notre Dame Cathedral]Readings: Natalie Zemon Davis, “The Rites of Violence: Religious Riot in Sixteenth-Century France,” Past & Present 59 (1973): 51-91.Primary Documents: Eyewitness account of the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

(Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, 1572)

Mon, 4 July: Renaissance Paris [Visit: Fontaine des Innocents; Saint-Eustache]Readings: Colin Jones, “The Mythic Present of the Sun King,” in The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon 1715-99, pp. 1-6. Andrew Trout, “Louis XIV’s Paris: A Panoramic View,”

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in City on the Seine: Paris in the Time of Richelieu and Louis XIV, pp. 3-18.Primary Documents: Excerpts from the memoirs of the Duc de Saint-Simon; Maps of the Palace of Versailles.

Tues, 5 July: Le Grand Siècle [Visit: Pont-Neuf; Place des Vosges]

Readings: Jones, “Points of Light,” In The Great Nation, pp. 178-86; Primary Sources: Excerpts from Jean La Rond D'Alembert, Preliminary Discourse to the Encyclopedia of Diderot.

(Title page of Tome One of the Encyclopedia, 1752)

Wed, 6 July: Le Siècles des Lumières[Visit: Palais Royale; Le Procope]

Thurs, 7 July: In-Class Essay 1[Visit: Musée Carnavalet]

Readings: Primary Documents: Excerpts from Abbé Sieyès, What is the

Third Estate?; Excerpts from Thomas Jefferson’s correspondence from Paris; The Marseillaise; The Levée en Masse; Excerpts from Maximilian Robespierre, Justification of the Use of Terror.

Part Two: From the Revolution to the Present Day

(Execution of Lous XVI, January 21, 1793)

Mon, 11 July: Revolutionary and Napoleonic Paris

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[Visit: Place de la Concorde; Arc de Triomphe de Carrousel]Readings: David P. Jordan, “Haussmann and Haussmannisation: The Legacy for Paris,” French Historical Studies 27 (2004): 87-113. Primary Sources: Maps of Paris

Tues, 12 July: Paris from the Restoration to the Second Empire[Visit: Palais Garnier; the Grands Boulevards; Le Printemps]

Readings: Henri Loyrette, “The Eiffel Tower,” in Realms of Memory: The Construction of the French Past, vol. 3, pp. 348-74.

(Perspective of Boulevard de la Chapelle, c. 1900)

Wed, 13 July: La Belle Époque [Visit: Eiffel Tower; Pont Alexandre III; Grand Palais and Petit Palais]Readings: Richard D. E. Burton, “Operation Spring Breeze: Rue des Rosiers, Vel’ d’ Hiv’, Drancy (July-August 1942),” in Blood in the City: Violence and Revelation in Paris, 1789-1945, pp. 206-31.Primary Sources: Excerpts from Ernest Hemingway, A

Moveable Feast.

Thurs, 14 July: No Class – Fête nationale (Bastille Day)

(General de Gaulle in Paris after the liberation of the city, August 1944)

Mon, 18 July: The World Wars[Visit: Père Lachaise]Readings: Keith Reader, What Happened in May 1968Primary Sources: Excerpts from Le Monde, May 1968; Photographs and posters.

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Tues, 19 July: Modern Paris[Visit: Centre Georges-Pompidou; Forum des Halles; Bastille Opera]

Wed, 20 July: In-Class Essay 2[Visit: Musée du Louvre]

Fri, 22 July: Book Review sent to me via e-mail by 12h

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