Um das Jahr 1890 gab es in Großbritannien keine Lehrstühle, Vorlesungen und keine Lehrveranstaltungen, die sich mit imperialer Geschichte, Geografie, Wirtschaftsgeschichte oder internationalen Beziehungen beschäftigten. Dies änderte sich im Laufe der nächsten drei Jahrzehnte. Diese Dissertation analysiert diese Entwicklung. Ich wollte verstehen, was diese Entwicklungen angeregt hat und wollte nachprüfen, wer hinter diesen Änderungen stand. Die wichtigste Erkenntnis ist, dass in allen vier Fällen die Begründer der Fachbereiche die wichtigsten Elemente der Weltanschauung teilten. Zuallererst, ohne Ausnahme, handelten sie, weil sie überzeugt waren, dass das Imperium sich in Richtung des Zusammenbruchs seiner Macht bewegte. Diese Arbeit argumentiert, dass diese Unsicherheit die Suche nach neuen Formen der Erkenntnis begünstigte. Was ist möglich zu bemerken ist, erstens, sorgten sich diese Pioniere in erster Linie um die Zukunft und handelten an späterer Stelle als wissenschaftliche Erneuerer. Zweitens führe ich aus, dass viele Pioniere der Fachbereichen in mehr als nur einer Disziplin agierten. Anders gesagt, die Schaffung von neuem Wissen war wichtiger als jeder besondere Fachbereich. Drittens verfolgten diese neuen Fachbereiche das Ziel praktisches Wissen zu erzeugen, das von Staatsmännern genutzt werden konnte. Zuletzt, weil die Schlussfolgerungen dieser neuen Fachbereiche eine große Reichweite benötigten, mussten ihre Pioniere ein großes Publikum erreichen. Als darauffolgende Konsequenz waren diese neuen Fachbereiche nicht innerhalb der Mauern der Universitäten verschlossen. Der Drang danach, weite Massen zu erreichen, war einer der Hauptgründe, warum es zu einer Institutionalisierung kam. In allen vier Fallbeispielen zeige ich, wie genau diese wahrnehmbaren Schwierigkeiten den zeitlichen und geographischen Umfang dieser neuen Fachbereiche vorbestimmt haben, ebenso wie ihre thematischen Vorlieben. / Around 1890 there were no university chairs, no lectures, and no courses dealing with imperial history, geography, economic history or international relations in Great Britain. Over the course of the next three decades this changed. This dissertation analyses this evolution. I attempted to understand what provoked these developments and I inquired who stood behind these changes. Most importantly, comparison points that in all four instances disciplinary innovators shared the key convictions. Above all, without exception, they acted because they were convinced that the Empire is heading towards the collapse of its powers. The argument of the thesis is that the uncertain future gave rise to the quest for the new kind of knowledge. What is possible to notice is, in the first place, that the pioneers firstly started to worry about the future, and only later acted as scientific innovators. In the second place, I point that many disciplinary pioneers were acting in more than a single discipline. In other words, the creation of a new kind of a knowledge was more important than any specific area of studies. Third, the new disciplines ought to produce practical knowledge that could be used by statesmen. Lastly, because conclusions of these new disciplines needed to be disseminated, the pioneers had to reach wide audiences. As a consequence of this, the new disciplines were not confined within walls of universities. This desire to reach the masses is the key reason why institutionalisation happened. In all four case studies I demonstrate how exactly these perceived problems predetermined the chronological and geographical scope of the new disciplines, together with their thematic predilections.

Cette thèse présente les résultats de l’analyse philologique, codicologique, paléographique, linguistique, de la décoration et de l’illustration de quatre manuscrits des Faits des Romains copiés en Italie à la fin du XIIIe siècle, c’est-à-dire Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fr. 726 et fr. 23082, Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 4792 et le fragment Saumur, Médiathèque, 67. L’étude de ces témoins vise à comprendre les intentions des concepteurs de ces recueils, à en reconstruire les phases de production et à relever les spécificités culturelles des opérations de mise en recueil des textes. Pour ce faire, la première partie du présent travail s’intéresse à retracer l’origine et le rayonnement de deux courts textes inédits en prose française, dont ces manuscrits sont les exemplaires conservés les plus anciens. Il s’agit de la Chronique des empereurs d’Octavien à Frédéric II, traduction partielle du Chronicon pontificum et imperatorum Romanorum de Gilbert, et de la Chronologie abrégée depuis Adam jusqu’en 1239, retombée ultime de la tradition latine des annales mineures normandes. L’étude de la tradition de ces deux textes français aboutit à la publication de leur édition critique et permet de préciser les caractéristiques de leur réception en Italie. Transcrites après le récit de la vie de Jules César contenu dans les Faits des Romains, la Chronique et la Chronologie proposent au lecteur un aperçu de la postérité du pouvoir impérial insérée dans une perspective chrétienne. L’examen global des quatre manuscrits des Faits des Romains éclaire les modalités de diffusion de l’œuvre et permet de retracer la postérité de la figure de César dans les produits littéraires et historiques en langue vernaculaire du XIIIe à XVe siècle. La production des quatre manuscrits des Faits des Romains avait été attribuée à des professionnels de livres provenant de Pise et détenus dans les prisons de Gênes à la fin du XIIIe siècle. Les données issues de la présente étude confirment cette hypothèse pour un seul exemplaire (BnF, fr. 726) et laissent le doute sur le fragment, tandis que les deux autres copies ne présentent pas des traces claires du travail des Pisans. Les exemplaires des Faits des Romains dont cette recherche arrive à présumer la circulation dans la Péninsule italienne se démontrent nombreux, et sont en majorité caractérisés par l’association du texte avec un apparat décoratif et illustratif remarquable, qui guide l’interprétation de l’histoire de César. Les pratiques de mise en recueil des Faits des Romains dans les manuscrits italiens font preuve d’un intérêt vivant et multiforme pour le texte, autant dans sa nature de livre d’histoire que dans celle de collections d’exemples de rhétorique et de gouvernement. En offrant une mise à jour contextuelle et matérielle des quatre manuscrits génois des Faits des Romains et des manuscrits du Chronicon, de la Chronique et de la Chronologie, cette thèse précise et détaille le tableau de la culture historique de langues française, latine et italienne entre le XIIIe et le XVe siècle. / This thesis presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of philological, codicological, paleographical, linguistic, decorative, and illustrative elements of four manuscripts of the Faits des Romains copied in Italy at the end of the 13th century: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fr. 726 and fr. 23082; Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 4792; the fragment Saumur, Médiathèque, 67. This study aims to understand the intentions of the architects of these anthologies, reconstruct the production phases, and pinpoint the cultural peculiarities of theses books. To achieve this, the first part of this thesis traces the origin and investigates the tradition of two unpublished short texts in French prose, of which these manuscripts stand as the oldest preserved copies. The Chronique des empereurs d’Octavien à Frédéric II is a partial translation of Gilbert’s Chronicon pontificum et imperatorum Romanorum, and the Chronologie abrégée depuis Adam jusqu’en 1239 derive from the Latin tradition of Norman minor annals. The study of these traditions results in the publication of the critical edition of the two French texts, and helps specify the characteristics of their reception in Italy. We find them copied after the Faits des Romains, where they provide the history of Julius Caesar of an overview of imperial power’s posterity embedded in a Christian perspective. The comprehensive analysis of the four manuscripts of the Faits des Romains sheds light on the circulation of text, and traces the legacy of Caesar’s biography in vernacular literary and historical products from the 13th to the 15th century. The four manuscripts of the Faits des Romains have been assumed to be produced by Pisan artists and scribes held in Genoa’s prisons at the end of the 13th century. The findings of this study confirm this hypothesis for only one copy (BnF, fr. 726) and cast doubt on the fragment, while the other two copies do not show clear traces of Pisan involvement. It appears evident that many manuscripts of the Faits des Romains circulated in the Italian Peninsula, mostly characterized by the association of the text with a remarkable decorative and illustrative apparatus that guides the interpretation of Caesar’s history. The different examples of mise en recueil of the Faits des Romains prove the vibrant and diverse interest in the text, which serves as both a historical narrative and a collection of examples of rhetoric and governance. By providing some contextual and material updates on the four Genoese manuscripts of the Faits des Romains and on the manuscripts of the Chronicon, the Chronique, and the Chronologie, this thesis contributes to our understanding of historical culture in French, Latin, and Italian languages between the 13th and 15th centuries.

This thesis examines how the law dealt with international fugitives. It focuses on formal extradition and the cross-border abduction of wanted criminals by police officers and other state officials. Debates over extradition and abduction reflected important issues of state power and civil liberty, and were shaped by currents of thought circulating throughout the imperial, Atlantic, and common law worlds. Debates over extradition involved questioning the very basis of international law. They also raised difficult questions about civil liberties and human rights. Throughout this period escaped American slaves and other groups made claims for what we would now call refugee status, and argued that their surrender violated codes of law and ideas of justice that transcended the colonies and even the wider British Empire. Such claims sparked a decades-long debate in North America and Europe over how to codify refugee protections. Ultimately, Britain used its imperial power to force Canada to accept such safeguards. Yet even as the formal extradition system developed, an informal system of police abductions operated in the Canadian-American borderlands. This system defied formal law, but it also manifested sophisticated local ideas about community justice and transnational legal order. This thesis argues that extradition and abduction must be understood within three overlapping contexts. The first is the ethos of liberal transnationalism that permeated all levels of state officials in British North America/Canada. This view largely prioritised the erosion of domestic barriers to international cooperation over the protection of individual liberty. It was predicated in large part on the idea of a common North American civilization. The second context is Canada’s place in the British Empire. Extradition and abduction highlight both how British North America/Canada often expounded views on legal order radically different from Britain, but also that even after Confederation in 1867 the empire retained real power to shape Canadian policy. The final context is international law and international legal order. Both extradition and abduction were aspects of law on an international and transnational level. As a result, this thesis examines the processes of migration, adoption, and adaptation of international law.

This thesis examines how the law dealt with international fugitives. It focuses on formal extradition and the cross-border abduction of wanted criminals by police officers and other state officials. Debates over extradition and abduction reflected important issues of state power and civil liberty, and were shaped by currents of thought circulating throughout the imperial, Atlantic, and common law worlds. Debates over extradition involved questioning the very basis of international law. They also raised difficult questions about civil liberties and human rights. Throughout this period escaped American slaves and other groups made claims for what we would now call refugee status, and argued that their surrender violated codes of law and ideas of justice that transcended the colonies and even the wider British Empire. Such claims sparked a decades-long debate in North America and Europe over how to codify refugee protections. Ultimately, Britain used its imperial power to force Canada to accept such safeguards. Yet even as the formal extradition system developed, an informal system of police abductions operated in the Canadian-American borderlands. This system defied formal law, but it also manifested sophisticated local ideas about community justice and transnational legal order. This thesis argues that extradition and abduction must be understood within three overlapping contexts. The first is the ethos of liberal transnationalism that permeated all levels of state officials in British North America/Canada. This view largely prioritised the erosion of domestic barriers to international cooperation over the protection of individual liberty. It was predicated in large part on the idea of a common North American civilization. The second context is Canada’s place in the British Empire. Extradition and abduction highlight both how British North America/Canada often expounded views on legal order radically different from Britain, but also that even after Confederation in 1867 the empire retained real power to shape Canadian policy. The final context is international law and international legal order. Both extradition and abduction were aspects of law on an international and transnational level. As a result, this thesis examines the processes of migration, adoption, and adaptation of international law.

Cadet sans terre d’une famille paysanne des Hautes-Alpes, Martin Bertrand (1915-2008) échappe au séminaire en s’engageant dans la garde républicaine mobile qui le conduira à Casablanca, au Maroc, où il sera stationné dès 1941. Mobilisé en 1943 à la suite du débarquement des Alliés en Afrique du Nord, il est affecté à l’encadrement d’une unité coloniale marocaine. Avec « ses » tirailleurs, il participe à la campagne d’Italie, au débarquement en Provence, à la libération de l’Alsace et à l’occupation de l’Allemagne. Après avoir regagné le Maroc pour quelques années, son bataillon est déployé de 1949 à 1951 à Tourane, en Indochine, où l’administration coloniale française tente de reprendre le contrôle de la région. Durant chacune de ses longues absences, Martin Bertrand écrira quasi quotidiennement à son épouse, Hélène, originaire d’une famille de colons espagnols installés en Algérie. Par l’analyse de cette correspondance, ce mémoire de maîtrise propose d’intégrer l’expérience de Martin Bertrand, sous-officier d’un régiment colonial, au sein d’une histoire impériale plus large; celle d’une France qui mène ses troupes au front de ses dernières guerres coloniales et qui déstabilise, dans ce processus, l’ordre qui régit la fonction et la position de chaque soldat. Ainsi, en faisant parler les mots intimes de Martin Bertrand au prisme du contenu de sources plus officielles, telles que les rapports militaires sur le moral des hommes, ce mémoire rend compte à la fois de la complexité des hiérarchies sociales et raciales qui établissent les rapports entre les sous-officiers français et la troupe « indigène » tout autant qu’il explore les questionnements identitaires plus personnels d’un petit cadre. / Deprived of his land inheritance like many youngest-born of peasant descent, Martin Bertrand (1915-2008) eventually fled life as a seminarian in the French High-Alps by enlisting in the Mobile Guard and then being stationed in Casablanca, Morocco in 1941. Following the Anglo–American invasion of French North Africa, he was drafted in 1943 to lead a Moroccan colonial recruit unit. With “his” tirailleurs, he took part in the Italian campaign, the Provence landing, the liberation of Alsace, and the occupation of Germany. After the War, he returned to Morocco only to be deployed 3 years later with the same battalion to Tourane, Indochina where the French colonial administration attempted to retake control of the region. During each one of his long absences, Martin Bertrand wrote almost daily to his wife Hélène, descendent of Spanish settlers established in Algeria. By analyzing these letters, this master’s thesis proposes to integrate Martin Bertrand’s experiences, in his functions as a non-commissioned officer in a colonial regiment, into a broader imperial story where France led her armies through her last colonial wars and destabilized the colonial order under which each soldier was governed. Furthermore, this study compares Martin Bertrand’s private letters with more official sources like troop morale reports which allows for an analysis of the complex social and ethnic hierarchies between French non-commissioned officers and “indigenous” troops. At the same time, it explores the deeper questionings of a military intermediary’s self-identity.