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Le bailli d’Amiens, sous Philippe VI (1328-1350), intervenait fréquemment dans les principautés du Nord de la France que sont les comtés d’Artois, de Ponthieu et de Flandre. L’étendue de son ressort, ainsi que son emplacement stratégique, en firent une sentinelle du gouvernement central et un ardent défenseur des droits du roi. Agissant parfois avec trop de zèle, entrant ce faisant en conflit avec les juridictions urbaines, d’Église et seigneuriales, cet officier royal constituait un lien important entre les justiciables de sa circonscription et l’autorité royale des actes et lettres de laquelle il devait veiller à la transmission et l’exécution. De son côté, la cour du roi sembla approuver le travail du bailli, n’intervenant que rarement en réaction aux excès commis par ce dernier et confirmant l’essentiel des sentences du bailli jugées en appel.

This thesis analyses the women that came before the judiciary system in Montreal for a question of honour between 1698 and 1756. The analysis focuses on the power dynamics experience by these women. Seduction, rape, prostitution and slander trial archives serve as the basis for this study. In eighteenth-century Montreal, honour an essential capital to possess because without it women could experience marginalization within the society. Female honour essentially linked to their sexuality and the justice system going to either help or harm the women depending on the transgression of the sexual norms in place in the society. The analysis will focus on the litigants, on the power dynamics between the women and the men and between the women themselves. On the one hand, this study accords an extreme importance to the agency of the principal actors in the trials. On the other hand, this study focuses on the intersectional power dynamics. In this thesis, we ask: how does gender, race and social status influence the course of justice? Does justice play the same role for every woman in a trial linked to her honour? Which factors influence the differential treatment of the women during a trial? I will answer these questions by analyzing the litigants, the power dynamics between the men and the women and between the women themselves and the relations between the women, their family and the society.

In the 6th century, in the kingdom of the Burgundians, Avitus of Vienne composes a letter for his sister, the nun Fuscina. This consoling and eulogistic artwork is called De consolatoria castitatis laude. This text generates in us an understanding of the particular context of the virgo in the Christian society of Late Antiquity. Regarding the text, the purpose of the book is to show to the monacha that the virginal choice represents a way of escape and freedom, a reality that the spouse is unaware of. The duties of marriage, the dangers of motherhood, the troubles of the century, the widowhood and the mourning are all unknown to the virgin because she excludes herself to worldly obligations. The use of the Bible and several patristic references shape the legacy of religious mentalities which inspires Avitus in making an oriented speech on the virgo’s socio-religious distinctness.

Ranging from contemporaries to observers of the XX and XIX centuries, the First World War is a part of human history difficult to portray that many have described as a “total war”. This concept, which is often employed as a synonym for a war of extreme intensity, is generally perceived from a material angle. In other words, it involves an all-out mobilisation of human, financial, and material resources. As part of this research, I focus on the intention to completely destroy the enemy at the risk of destroying oneself in the process. After all, why would actors think it logical to risk self-destruction in the war? Above all, this struggle needs to be perceived as logical, which would make it necessary for their own survival; it could even be perceived as desirable because it presages a better future. For this reason, the study of the Canadian case is quite instructive because this British dominion, without objectively being threatened with destruction, has participated in a war effort in a way comparable to Western European states. Hence, understanding the concept of Canadian “total war” of 1914-1918 can enable us to better understand total war efforts of other countries and other conflicts. In this dissertation, I propose a twofold discursive analysis based on images of war—drawings, caricatures, and posters. In the first part, a new “vocabulary” of total war common to the Allies and comprised of myths, images and key words geared to the articulation of a common war language is created in the in the international arena. In the second part, Canada adopts this language, albeit in a differentiated form, for political, ethno-linguistic cultural, and many other reasons. The dynamic of identity creation is borrowed from abroad (“Us”, the Allies against “Them”, the enemies of civilisation) and is transposed to the national level, culminating during the elections of December 1917. By observing how Canada reacted to the resulting stress of the total war effort of the Allies, it is possible to develop an alternative observation of political and social struggles of the Dominion at war that runs counter to traditional historiographies. I propose a portrait of Canadian society where identity, ideas, gender, and a sense of belonging to the Canadian community do not depend on one’s ethnicity, but rather on whether or not one supports the objectives of the total war put forth by the Allies. In brief, the sense of belonging to an international community of ideas at war—the Allies—, according to this analysis, is the guiding principle for nationalist Canadian actors.

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois published The Souls of Black Folk in 1903. Du Bois pursued three different goals when he wrote his masterpiece. First, he argued that Booker T. Washington’s strategy of trading political rights for economic opportunities was not the best way to improve the condition of African Americans. Second, Du Bois highlighted the accomplishments and distinctive abilities of his people in order to undermine the pretended biological and moral superiority of Whites that often justified the pushback against equal rights for all. Third, Du Bois wished to inspire Americans to become better citizens by compelling his fellow countrymen to embrace the Founding Fathers’ ideals and higher moral standards. The writing of The Souls of Black Folk marks an important shift in Du Bois’ intellectual life because he recants the accommodationist rhetoric of his youth during this period. Some of the ideas introduced in The Souls of Black Folk can be traced back to the influence of Alexander Crummell and of Du Bois’ teachers at the University of Berlin. However, it is Du Bois’s field work in the black community of Philadelphia that made him realize both the degree of the inequalities faced by African Americans and the fact that hard work and enthusiasm are not enough to overcome such significant disparities.

The European project, through each of its milestones, outlines a new type of entity on the international scene, one which is a stranger to the nation state without being its better. From the intensification of European integration emerged a questioning on the nature of the interactions between national and European identity. In this respect, France represents a very interesting field of study as the country organised two referendums on European integration, one in 1992 and the other in 2005. The main goal of this research is to reveal the way in which the construction of a national discourse within the French public opinion is influenced by the deepening of European integration. The analysis covers both debate periods before the 1992 and 2005 referendums dealing with the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty on the Euro and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. This work is based on a press analysis covering both periods of debate. In order to study the evolution of the French perception of their national identity with the least political bias possible, this thesis relies on documentary resources comprising editorials and letters to the editor of four newspapers: Le Monde, Le Figaro, L’Humanité and Libération. The comparison of the identity discourses of 1992 and 2005 reveals that the relation of identification between France and Europe has drastically changed during this period. It went from a relation founded on alterity to a relation founded on shared values. In 1992, the French use the European idea as an identity referent around which they reaffirm the “frenchness” of their shared values. In 2005, the French national identity is not in question anymore. From now on, the debate turns around the values the French hope to see at the root of the European identity to which they are called to adhere. These values are henceforth drawn from the personal identity of each Frenchman rather than from an encompassing concept of the French national identity.

Ce travail de recherche cherche à répondre à deux questions : Quels sont les liens sociaux liant les maîtres et ingénus aux dépendants, sont-ils plus importants entre ingénus et affranchis qu’entre ingénus et esclaves? Ont-ils une influence positive sur l’affranchissement des esclaves dans la Correspondance de Cicéron ? Cette étude évolue par thème, passant des liens amicaux, matrimoniaux, sexuels aux évaluations des maîtres et des patrons sur leurs esclaves et affranchis. Avant la conclusion, quelques pages seront également dévolues aux esclaves et affranchis absents de la Correspondance pour expliquer cette absence et les situer dans le contexte de la fin de la République romaine. L’étude des liens sociaux liant les dépendants aux maîtres, patrons et ingénus, dans une approche soulignant les liens amicaux, affectifs, maritaux et sexuels plutôt que les liens sociaux purement juridiques, a permis de prouver l’existence assez fréquente de liens amicaux et affectifs entre les dépendants (esclaves et affranchis) et les maîtres, les patrons et les ingénus dans la Correspondance. L’étude de la Correspondance démontre également que ses liens amicaux et affectifs étaient plus nombreux et plus soutenus entre affranchis et ingénus qu’entre ingénus et esclave, mettant en lumière l’importance des liens d’amitié et d’affection dans le processus d’affranchissement de certains esclaves.

Les relations franco-soviétiques font l'objet de nouvelles études depuis l'ouverture des archives russes après la chute du communisme au début des années 1990. La présente étude vise à cerner comment la presse française percevait l'URSS et ses relations avec la France entre 1932 et 1934. Cette période est cruciale, car elle correspond à l'arrivée du nazisme en Allemagne et à un certain rapprochement franco-soviétique. La prise du pouvoir par Hitler eut un impact majeur sur les relations entre les deux pays, mais ce ne fut pas toujours compris rapidement en entièrement. Les journaux analysaient la situation avec une perspective compromise par leurs opinions politiques ou leurs intérêts financiers. Néanmoins, nous observons une nette évolution de leurs points de vue sur les 21 mois étudiés ici. Cela est dû à l'aggravation de la menace allemande et à la politique menée par l'URSS et par une partie du corps politique français. Afin d'avoir un échantillon viable, nous nous intéresserons à quatre quotidiens majeurs : Le Figaro, Le Temps, Le Populaire et L'Humanité. Mis ensemble, ces journaux représentent l'essentiel du panorama politique français. Les journaux de droite se firent de moins en moins critiques vis-à-vis de l'URSS, sans pour autant abandonner leur méfiance. Ceux de gauche soutinrent le rapprochement, tout en restant incrédules quant à la situation réelle. Cette recherche en est une de la perspective de l'autre, du rôle des médias dans la société et de l'influence de l'idéologie politique.