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Depuis quelques années, l 'Histoire s'intéresse au vêtement médiéval dans une perspective qui dépasse la simple analyse de ses représentations artistiques. Plusieurs éludes méticuleuses des comptabilités des grandes cours de la fin du Moyen Age ont replacé le vêtement dans son contexte socio-économique et ont montré l'importance de celui-ci dans la façon dont l'individu construit l'image que les autres ont de lui. Cependant, cette approche n'avait jusqu'à présent presque jamais été appliquée aux milieux non nobles. L'objet de cette thèse est donc de traiter du vêtement féminin dans la société parisienne de cette période, hors cours princières. Nous disposons pour ce faire d'un vaste corpus de sources pratiques, incluant aussi bien des comptes de tailleurs, que des testaments, des inventaires après décès et des contrats de mariage. Celles-ci seront complétées par d'autres sources écrites - ordonnances, chroniques, traités didactiques, sermons - et un large corpus de représentations iconographiques.L'analyse de ces sources conduit à étudier tout autant les aspects concrets de la forme, de la confection et du circuit économique du vêtement que la place que celui-ci occupe dans les rapports que les femmes, de la bourgeoise à la prostituée, entretiennent avec leurs contemporains. A la lumière de ces éléments, nous tâcherons enfin de voir si la population parisienne, hors milieux curiaux, présente ou non une mode qui lui serait propre et qui la différencierait des autres groupes sociaux, notamment de la noblesse. / Over the last few years, historians have developed an interest in medieval clothing from a perspective that goes , beyond the simple analysis of artistic representations. Several careful studies of the accounts of courts from the late Middle Ages placed clothing in its socio-economic context and revealed its importance in the way individuals construct their public image. However, this approach has, thus far, not been well applied in studies of the non-noble population. The purpose of this thesis is to deal with women's clothing in Parisian society of the late Middle Ages, outside of the princely courts. This study will use a large body of practical sources, including tailors' accounts, women' s wills, inventories taken after a death, and wedding contracts. These will be supplemented by ether written sources – orders, reviews, teaching. sermons - and a large corpus of iconographic representations. Analyzing these sources allows one to further consider the practical aspects of the shape of clothes, the clothing economic system, and the role that clothing plays in the interactions that women, from bourgeoisie to prostitute, maintain with their contemporaries. Thanks to these elements, we will attempt to finally ascertain if the Parisian population, outside of the princely courts, presents a fashion of its own that differentiates it from other social groups, including the nobility.

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This thesis analyses the comtesse de Ségur (1799-1874), France's best-selling children's author, both as a cultural icon and as a historical subject. Although Ségur became the best-selling author for young children in the twentieth century, and a publishing phenomenon, her work has often been overlooked by Anglophone historians. This is because she is perceived to be a part of a school of didactic authors derided as “governesses”, and who are usually characterised as bigoted spinsters, in possession of little in the way of real literary talent. The recent tendency in French academic research has therefore been to play down the comtesse de Ségur's politico-religious agenda, in order to distance her work from that of her colleagues, and to explain her enduring popularity. However, such an approach is based upon a questionable reading of such “governess” authors, and is an indication that Ségur's politics recall a part of their history that many French people would prefer to forget. In contrast, it is the contention of this thesis that the comtesse's work must be understood in the context of the religious antagonisms of Second Empire France. Ségur was closely involved with one of the most influential religious propaganda networks of the Second Empire. The informal nature of their activities meant that Ségur's gender did not prevent her from engaging in the political fray. The thesis examines the immediate production of her work in the context of the Catholic drive to propagate „good books‟, and highlights the importance which the religious revival attached to the child and to children‟s literature; it looks at the myth-making process which generated the comtesse de Ségur as a symbol of ideal Christian womanhood, and the role that this played in the politics of identity in the second half of the nineteenth century; and finally it asks what her legacy has been for feminine culture in France. In restoring the comtesse de Ségur to the intransigent Catholic movement, this thesis brings to light a neglected aspect of the Franco-French culture wars, namely the important contribution made by women authors such as Ségur to the massive surge in religious print culture in the mid-century. It questions the old stereotypes that have long surrounded Catholic women, and shows just how engaged they were in the struggle for the nation's soul that raged in post-revolutionary France.

The aim of this dissertation is to explore the contribution made by the nobility, both Gallo-Roman and Frankish, to the creation of a new society after the collapse of imperial authority in the west, Gallo-Frankish society. The first chapter of this dissertation is a review of the sources, both ancient and modern, used in the research undertaken for this dissertation. It is important to realise that, while not as numerous as those of other periods, sufficient ancient material survives to make a study such as this valid. Modern issues and debates will be highlighted, including an indication of what led me to this particular thesis. The second chapter outlines the history of Gaul and the barbarians to the middle of the fifth century. It then looks at the institutions that were the backbone of Gallo-Roman society. The third chapter explores the lives of a number of individuals who lived in Gaul during the late third and fourth centuries. They exemplify the challenges that faced the nobility and the ways they found of facing them. Chapter four introduces the Franks as the successors to imperial rule in Gaul. A narrative history is followed by a study of the institutions that they made use of in establishing their power. Chapter five narrows the focus still further and looks at the role that the monarchy and the nobility had to play in the creation of Gallo-Frankish society. It will look at specific examples in order to demonstrate the vital role that the fusion taking place between Gallo-Romans and Franks played in this process. The final chapter, chapter six reaches the conclusion that Gallo-Frankish society was based on an amalgamation of Gallo-Romans and Franks, an amalgamation that was remarkably peaceful, given the events of the period.

Cette étude porte sur la torture judiciaire ou « question », élément de la procédure inquisitoire en plein essor en France aux XIVe-XVe siècles, à partir du fond documentaire de la série criminelle des archives du parlement de Paris (Archives nationales, série X2A). La procédure criminelle en quête de vérité se fonde alors essentiellement sur l'aveu. La torture judiciaire apparaît comme un moyen de l'obtenir. repérable dans les sources dans deux cas de figure. Soit elle est le fait du Parlement lui-même, qui l'ordonne, soit elle est mentionnée à l'occasion d'appels en provenance des juridictions inférieures. Par l'intermédiaire des pratiques préconisées par le Parlement comme par la répression des pratiques abusives ou excessives, se dessinent les contours d'une torture « courtoise» qui concorde globalement avec la doctrine, et fait l'objet d'une normalisation progressive. À la miséricorde qui caractérise généralement les décisions de la Cour répond le principe que certains crimes et certains criminels nécessitent le recours à la torture. Par son usage mesuré et ciblé comme par sa contribution à l'élaboration du crime de lèse-majesté, la torture judiciaire au Parlement de Paris accompagne le développement de la justice royale garante tout autant des intérêts de l'État que de l'ordre et la paix. / This study from the documentary background to the criminal series of the Parliament of Paris (National Archives, series X2A), focuses on the judicial torture or « question », a part of the inquisitorial process which developed in France during the 14th and 15th centuries. In its pursuit of the truth, the criminal procedure was essentially based on confession. The judicial torture appeared to be a means of obtaining confession, discernable in the sources in two cases. Either because it is ordered by Parliament itself, or it is mentioned on the occasion of appeals from inferior jurisdictions. What stands out through the practices advocated by the Parliament, such as the repression of abusive and excessive practices, are the outlines of a courtoise torture in overall accordance with the doctrine and subject to a progressive normalization. The principle that some crimes and some criminals require resorting to torture, is the response to the principle of mercy generally characteristic of the Courts decisions. In its moderate and targeted use as well as in its contribution to the elaboration of the crime of lèse-majesté, the judicial torture in the Parliament of Paris accompanied the development of the royal justice, guaranteeing as much the interests of the State as order and peace.

The administration of French towns in the eighteenth century was in the hands of two bodies, the corps de ville and the assembles generale des habitants, which were usually dominated by a close, well-to-do oligarchy. Although municipal elections were organized in a host of different ways, there were two characteristics common to many towns - indirect elections and representation based on class or profession - both of which were conducive to oligarchy. Opposition to this municipal oligarchy was led by bailliage officials, whose political importance and economic power suffered a marked decline in the eighteenth century. The essentials of municipal finance were similar in all towns. The most usual source of revenue was taxation on consumer goods, though some towns also levied personal taxation. The disbursement of this revenue was not at the municipal officials' discretion, but decided either by the royal council or by the intendant. Colbert had restricted the towns' financial independence in order to prevent misappropriation and peculation of municipal revenue. The government's less altruistic reason for controlling municipal expenditure was that in times of crisis it looked to the towns for extraordinary financial assistance. This it extorted principally by means of rachats des offices and dons gratuits. The effect of this policy on a town's finances is well illustrated by the history of Auxerre. This town's relations with the intendants of Burgundy suggest that the government's direction of municipal finance was not in practice as efficient as it was intended to be in theory. The archives of Auxerre and Avallon also contain valuable information about municipal elections in the eighteenth century, the conventions which governed them, the passions they aroused, and the part played by intrigue and influence.

Apart for a few episodes such as the battle of Cravant (1423), the defence of Paris (1429) and especially the capture of Joan of Arc at the siege of Com-piègne (1430), the military aspect of Anglo-Burgundian alliance in 1420-1435 war is little known to general audience. This stage of the Hundred Years War is presented largely as a series of English successes in the 1420s followed by the defeats and setbacks after 1429. The present study aims to uncover this large-ly ignored aspect of one of the most dramatic stages of the Hundred Years War, which at a certain point brought the English to the walls of Orléans – an undoubted peak of their centuries-long efforts to subdue the French kingdom. For the aims of research, the course of the Hundred Years War in the 1420s-early 1430s has to be considered not in the terms of the English fighting against the French but as a struggle of two alternative claims to the French throne, both of them relying on certain support among the French pop-ulation. One of these suggested that the French crown remained with the Va-lois dynasty represented by Charles VII, the other tried to introduce the Dual Monarchy of England and France under the governance of the House of Lancas-ter, as formalised by the Treaty of Troyes (21 May 1420). The role of Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, the most high-ranking French partisan of the Dual monarchy, as the pillar of the Lancastrian power in France becomes the subject of study. This raises the question of the system of obligations between the duke and the Lancastrian government, the modes of its practical exploitation and the significance of the duke’s contribution to the Lancastrian war efforts. With this in mind, this study provides a chronological reconstruction of Anglo-Burgundian military cooperation in its development by placing it in a wider military and diplomatic context. Having assembled the evidence on the practice of military assistance it proceeds to discussing the most widely em-ployed models of cooperation and interaction between the allies eventually leading to a certain reconsideration of the whole nature of the Anglo-Burgundian alliance. What the research reveals is the scale and continuity of the alliance which retained its importance from December 1419 to September 1435, the significance of the allies’ efforts in supporting each other and variety of its models and, finally, the crucial influence of the military power or weak-ness factor on the diplomacy and politics in France.