Society and Politics in 18th-Century France

About the lecture

In this module, Tom introduces the society and politics of 18th-Century France - the so-called 'Ancien Régime' that had pertained in the Kingdom of France since the 15th Century. An important relationship in this period is that between the King and the various corporate bodies that existed in France at this time - the Church, the Parlements, and the Corporations. The module ends by looking at the state of France's finances in this period and the attempts of Louis XV to raise money from his nobles and the French people.

About the lecturer

Tom Stammers is a cultural historian of France from the Revolution down to the end of the nineteenth century. His PhD thesis and forthcoming book explore questions of collecting, material culture and heritage in post-revolutionary Paris. He is currently finishing research related to early collectors of revolutionary prints, the afterlives of Rococo artefacts, clandestine worker theatres and the political controversies surrounding the antiques trade. Future research projects include a study of artisans and connoisseurs in the nineteenth-century museum, entitled the 'untutored eye'. Tom is interested in a wide range of historiographical and theoretical controversies related to eighteenth and nineteenth-century Europe.