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The historiography on the Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France (CNF) focuses primarily on its role in the colonization of New France. By examining its form, I resituate the CNF in the larger history of European experimentations with the joint-stock company. The liquidation of the company’s debts in the 1630s and 1640s forced associates, directors, and jurists to articulate their understanding of who was liable for the enterprise’s financial health. Evaluating the legal and moral arguments of the parties concerned, I argue that the complexity of the liability of associates and directors resulted from the intersection of corporate, monarchical and commercial worlds.

The study of the Roman imperial cult in the 4th century has often been relegated to the background in research relating to this subject. The imperial cult has even often been relegated to the same fate than the rest of the Roman traditional cults. However, in the light of period sources and the work of certain historians, such as Louis Bréhier, the imperial cult seems to have survived this prognosis of disappearance. More interesting still, the imperial cult appears to have transformed and adapted to the new reality offered by a Christianizing Roman Empire while the power of the emperor was becoming more sacred. The work presented in this thesis parallels the metamorphosis experienced by the imperial cult with the strengthening of imperial power during the fourth century, while comparing the evolution of the perception that Christians had of this fundamentally traditional institution. As mentioned above, the study is based on a body of contemporary sources, ranging from Christian homilies to epigraphic sources which will corroborate the information found in the work of several historians who have studied the topic. Overall, this research demonstrates that the imperial cult succeeded in shedding religious connotations that Christians considered problematic while continuing to function and occupy a central place in the life of the Romans. This, together with an imperial power expressed in absolute terms, initiated the metamorphosis of the imperial cult into a "monarchical cult", exalting even more the emperor's power for centuries to come.

On 22 June 1845, a curious religious procession took place in the streets of Montreal. A “huge crowd” gathered to accompany through the city the body of a man exhumed from the Roman catacombs. His bones had been shipped to Montreal and placed in a wax figure representing a Roman soldier. Presumed to have died for his faith, this martyr was carried through the streets at arm’s length amid incense and hymns. Surprisingly, this procession was not an isolated one. From 1830 to 1930, the remains of dozens of presumed Christian martyrs extracted from the Roman catacombs were sent to Canada. In Halifax, Rimouski, Joliette, Toronto, and Windsor, they attracted the faithful and the curious. Adopted as powerful intercessors, these foreign saints would shape the beliefs, representations, and identity of generations of Catholics. Around their relics, a whole devotional universe would develop and maintain various and complex relations with society. These relics provide us with a unique window into nineteenth-century Canadian society. This thesis makes a significant contribution to historiography by exploring for the first time the topic of ultramontane devotions in Canada. It studies the deployment of the cult of Roman martyrs and their relics in the Canadian Church and reconstitutes the development of this devotion from a cultural history perspective. Using archival documents found on both sides of the Atlantic, this thesis examines how Canadians discovered, sought, and adopted this foreign devotion. In reality, this infatuation for Roman relics is primarily a transnational phenomenon that is part of the profound changes that the Catholic Church experienced in the nineteenth century, driven in particular by the Ultramontane movement. Therefore, it seeks to situate the presence of relics from the catacombs in Canada in its global context while considering its Canadian particularities. It rests on a considerable number of novel sources drawn from more than thirty archival centers. With the help of these documents, it examines the different facets that this devotion had, whether in cities or the countryside, among English-speaking or French-speaking communities or in predominantly Catholic or Protestant environments. The first chapter reveals the fascination with Christian Rome among nineteenth-century Canadians and the importance that the catacombs and their martyrs had in the minds of the Catholic faithful. The second chapter identifies the many networks uniting the Canadian Church with Rome, and more broadly with Europe, that allowed the acquisition and shipping of relics to Canada. It replaces this devotion in a larger framework by linking it to other manifestations of this expression of piety elsewhere in the world. It pays particular attention to the exchange of goods between the Italian peninsula and North America by studying the commercial routes that allowed the circulation of relics. The remaining three chapters are devoted to the presentation, the reception, and the adoption of catacomb saints in Canada. They examine the art of molding wax bodies containing relics and the symbolism of these recumbent-reliquaries, before describing the religious ceremony organized to mark the arrival of a new martyr. Finally, this thesis explores the faithful’s various expressions of piety: patronages, prayers, indulgences, and claims of miracles. It examines the attachment but also the opposition and the tensions provoked by Roman relics within society. This research demonstrates the influence that foreign religious devotions held in the spiritual lives of Canadians and the many connections uniting Canadian society with Europe. It also testifies to significant changes in the devotional universe of the nineteenth century. But above all, it highlights the profound transformations of both culture and mentalities and particularly of beliefs, emotions, and the idea of death. This study contributes to a better understanding of the religious past of several generations of Canadians by studying a devotion that has now completely been forgotten.

My master’s thesis examines the representations of First Peoples in French-language history textbooks produced and used in Quebec between 1920 and 1960, with a particular focus on those intended for elementary school children. This research is at the crossroads of studies on Quebec colonialism, childhood history and the study of representations. Several theories emanating from visual studies, othering and performance studies are also mobilized in my study of history textbooks. By positioning itself at the intersection of this mosaic of historiographies and conceptual approaches, my master’s thesis answers the following questions: how are the First Peoples in Canada represented in French-language history textbooks produced between the 1920s and the 1960s and to what extent are these representations at odds with the previous period? How are these representations mobilized in the Quebec colonial imagination? How is the colonial image of the ‘imaginary Indian’ received, appropriated and performed by children? My study contributes to a historiography exploring history of representations of the First Peoples in history textbooks since the beginning of public education in Quebec. The first chapter explores three historiographical fields on which my dissertation draws: children's history, settler colonialism, and representations of First Peoples in North American popular culture. Chapters two and three are devoted, in order, to the analysis of history textbooks produced between 1920 and 1950 and those between 1950 and 1960. I show that the figure of the Indian is mobilized by the authors of the first period’s textbooks to justify the dispossession and colonial violence of the past, notably through the use of political, moral and genealogical arguments. In the latter period’s, more nationalistic series of textbooks, the authors reiterate these same ideas, but with a stronger emphasis on the idea of the ‘civilizing mission’ to the point of cleansing the Quebec historical narrative of its original violence. Furthermore, I argue that these textbooks show the continuation of colonialism in the present. First Peoples no longer disappear from the narrative after the Conquest, as was the case in history textbooks before 1950, but they are still subject to a colonial discourse that denigrates and invisibilizes them, while attempting to justify the dispossession of their lands.

This dissertation is structured in three distinct sections: in the first one, we examine the divine figure of Liber Pater and the perception of this divinity in Roman Italy. Liber never ceases to surprise scholars, mostly because of his association with Dionysus, so it is necessary to address a simple but crucial question: who is Liber Pater? We emphasize in this section that Liber is an agrarian deity recognized within the pantheon of Rome and thus receives a public cult through the Liberalia and the triad that he forms with Ceres and Libera. The tutelage of Liber on libertas is also questioned: rather than understanding it in terms of political freedom, we must rather focus on a physical and mental freedom. In the second section, we establish a connection on the Italian territory between Liber and Dionysus-Bacchus thanks to the process of acculturation that took place with the arrival of Dionysus in Magna Graecia in the 8th and 7th century BC. We then explore, through the tutelage of Liber and Bacchus over wine as well as the repression of the Bacchanalia, the heterogeneous forms that the rituals and cults dedicated to these deities may have taken. Finally, our last section dives into the cult of Liber in Italy in the Early Empire. To do so, we use the methodological framework of lived ancient religion, which focuses on the spectrum of religious strategies that can be put in place to communicate with Liber, be it through donation, prayer, gesture, sacrifice, etc. This model of analysis gives us the opportunity to focus on the lived worship of Liber, therefore bringing us closer to the religious experience of individuals. We demonstrate, through an epigraphic corpus comprising several types of inscriptions, that numerous communication strategies were used, notably the rituals of votum, dedicatio, and consecratio through the donation of objects such as altars and statues. In groups, these strategies become more complex since the associative phenomenon produces a significant cult diversification: several Roman associations, all different from one other in their practices and composition, honored Liber and his benefits.

This thesis examines French resistants and ex-resistants’ ties with the Empire, during and after the Second World War. It therefore explores a broader timeframe and geographic area than what previous historiography about French Resistance has offered up until now. In analyzing French Resistance newspapers and constitutional projects from 1940 through 1944, the thesis reveals that while the principles of the Third Republic were repudiated by French society at the time, one particular element remained: the idea of the civilizing mission. Then, through the study of numerous personal testimonies covering the years between the Liberation and the end of the Algerian War, the research offers a profound and nuanced insight on ex-resistants views of the Empire and their point of view on their country's colonial system. After 1944, the power dynamic shifted to the resistants: they were no longer dominated by a violent German state, they were now the ones enforcing domination to the colonies. The testimonies reveal the internal conflict French ex-resistants were dealing with when faced with the problems of decolonization. It also shows how the principles, for which they risked their lives during the war, were modified or reshaped to fit with their views on how to deal with the colonies’ wishes for emancipation. In examining how the war against fascism and the Vichy regime impacted personal attitudes towards the Empire and the exercise of domination, the study offers a new perspective on the French Resistance and French Imperial history from 1940 to 1962, one that accounts for political and economic imperatives as well as for the importance of the different interpretations of the Republic's core principles for these individuals. The individuals were selected because of the importance of their political, social or military commitments through the period. By focusing on the relationships between these successive commitments, the analysis enlarges the scope through which the French Resistance must be understood.

This thesis examines the credit records between 1847 and 1872 of the Montreal branch of the Mercantile Agency, among the most important credit bureaus in 19th century North America. The 19th century saw the acceleration of transatlantic trade. Montreal, located between Great Britain and the United States, was at the crossroads of the economic expansion. In this period, commonly referred to as the transition to capitalism, the legal, commercial and financial institutions of the metropolis were forced to adjust. In the financial sector, the state was compelled to adopt bankruptcy laws to lessen the negative effects of bad debts and to encourage and support the spread of commercial credit. However, because of limited accessibility, and the complexity and costs of the procedure, the laws were unable to fully guarantee the recovery of loans and were deemed unsatisfactory by the business community. The thesis claims that the emergence of credit agencies responded to the needs of the business community to address problems of information asymmetry. These agencies, like the Mercantile Agency, established a type of self-regulation of commercial credit. They provided information on risk to lenders. To a large extent, the information gathered represented the opinion of the Montreal merchant community. The credit offices of the Mercantile Agency used this information to generate rankings of the credit worthiness of merchants. The information was disseminated to the Agency’s network of subscribers. In this fashion, the Agency contributed to the construction of an economy of reputations. The research, which is inspired by contributions to the new history of capitalism, explores the effects of the construction of the economy of reputations on the relationship between lenders and borrowers. I find that the structure of the relationship favored creditor over debtors. The chapters of the thesis describe the role of reputation in the creditor-debtor relationship, the determinants adopted to measure credit worthiness, and the tensions and conflicts that emerged in the economy of reputations.

This master’s thesis concern impurity in Greek religion and more specifically the miasma related to the intimate life. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive portrait of intimate life through the analysis of religious inscriptions and literary documents. The examination of these sources allow the identification of the modalities for entering the temple and the processes necessary to regain its state of purity. This first objective leads to a second: I aim to formulate an explanatory theory on the origin of impurity in ancient Greece that departs from the traditional and interpretative theories by taking into account the contribution of cognitive science and social psychology to this question. Divided into four chapters, the research first focuses on the impurity of menstruation, a deeply intimate event and little studied due to persistent modern taboos. The second chapter dwells on the impurity of sexual relations. More specifically, this second section analyzes the differences between the miasma caused by relationships between spouses and by extramarital relationships. The third chapter deals with events related to motherhood, namely childbirth, abortion, miscarriage and breastfeeding. The juxtaposition of several types of impurity allow the identification of certain trends or similarities. Finally, the fourth chapter consists of the exploration of the biological and cognitive theories that could explain the origin of impurity in Ancient Greece. This final chapter seek to conclude that impurity is partly due to cognitive processes and reflexes which have been socially reinforced by the Greek religion.

The rise of the European socialist movement under the leadership of the Second International at the turn of the century and its breakup with the outbreak of the 1914 war is a persistent historical problem. The contradiction is obvious. Here was a movement that firmly proclaimed "proletarian internationalism", but which, when the time came to implement it, affirmed the necessity of "national defense". The concrete forms of this contradiction are illuminated by a study of the impact of the rise of imperialism on the internationalism of French and German socialists in the period leading up to the war, from the London Congress of 1896 to the resolution of the Agadir crisis in 1912. The Second International is a movement whose organizational and practical forms are rooted in a national framework, while its fundamental conceptions are those of internationalism. Imperialism reinforces this contradiction, and becomes at the same time the source of a concretization of socialist internationalism in theory, and of its abandonment in practice. Emphasizing the analysis of internationalism as a political rather than a cultural or sentimental phenomenon, this work demonstrates the existence of a chasm between the theoretical discourse and the practice of the movement. The rise of imperialism is accompanied by the rise of reformism within the socialist movement, which, along with other phenomena, reinforces its national tendencies. The national tendencies of the movement persisted at key moments, notably the imperialist crises of Tangier (1905) and Agadir (1911), to the point of calling into question the internationalist foundations of the movement.

This doctoral dissertation focuses on a contemporary phenomenon that has been understudied until now: the recent migration of highly educated, professional, and academic women. This profile corresponds to that of a significant proportion of Italian women who, since the 1990s, have left their country for large European cities or the North American continent. This movement intensified in the 2000s and, even more so after the financial crisis of 2008. This study is based on a qualitative analysis of the migration experience of 32 Italian women, aged 25 to 65, all with a university degree, who arrived in Montreal between 1990 and 2016. The study is in line with North American and European scientific literature on oral history, the history of migration and the new perspectives brought by its encounter with the history of women and gender. The aim is to take a critical look at this contemporary Italian female mobility that is educated and qualified. Thirty-two semi-directed interviews allowed us to explore in depth this recent migratory phenomenon and to grasp the meaning of this feminine experience, the attitude of these Italian women towards the status of women and feminism, in Italy and in Quebec, the existential choices that this migratory experience has demanded of them as women and intellectuals, in their private and public lives, and the possible changes that have resulted in terms of identity, religion and ideology. The objective is to define the socio-cultural profile of these women, their geographical, social and cultural origins, their educational and professional background in Italy and in the context of migration, and to explore the reasons that led them to leave Italy and choose Montreal. It also examines the complex migratory paths of these Italian women, the main challenges they have faced, and interprets these issues in their respective departure and arrival contexts. Migration and institutional policies, women’s status and reforms, unemployment and employment opportunities, access to education and academic careers in both countries are the main themes explored in this study. The analysis of the interviews allows us to verify to what extent and in what ways these thirty-two public and private stories reflect the migratory movements of our time. It also enables us to contrast the mobility of these migrant women with that of the Italian women who preceded them in Canada and Quebec, in the very different socio-economic contexts that marked the end of the 20th century and the 21st century. Thus, the globalization of the economy and the advent of digital media, to name but two examples, have generated new forms of identity, mixed, fluid and fragmented, by putting in direct communication these two worlds, the one of departure and the one of arrival, which were previously much more distant. Most of the women in my focus group are from northern Italy, belong to the lower or middle bourgeoisie, and have a high level of education. The political, economic, and cultural climate of the country encouraged them to leave; the many opportunities for education and employment, a better quality of life, and respect for human rights made them choose Montreal. Complex itineraries, fortuitous encounters, both professional and sentimental, and the fundamental role played by profession and career are some of the characteristics of this recent female migration. Suggestions for further research and new themes to explore complete this work.

Entre 1774 et 1815, la noblesse canadienne tente de stabiliser sa position sociale au sein d’une société canadienne désormais sous tutelle britannique. Pour cela, les nobles opèrent une redéfinition culturelle et sociale de leur idée de noblesse afin de s’adapter au nouveau régime. Grâce aux relations qui s’établissent entre les nobles restés dans l’Empire britannique, ceux l’ayant quitté et les nouvelles élites qui s’établissent dans la colonie au tournant du XIXe siècle, il est possible de mieux appréhender la façon dont la noblesse réinvestit son capital symbolique. L’étude des patrimoines matériels, sociaux et intellectuels ainsi que leurs modes de transmission permettent d’examiner les modalités d’adaptation de la communauté noble. Enfin, cette noblesse à cheval entre deux empires, dont les réseaux s’étendent sur de nombreux territoires, permet de mieux percevoir les évolutions qui s’opèrent à cette époque dans les sociétés coloniales et en particulier en Amérique du Nord et au Canada. En étudiant cinq familles emblématiques de la noblesse canadienne, cette thèse tente de répondre à la problématique et aux sous-questions suivantes : comment la noblesse francophone se renouvelle-t-elle et évolue-t-elle en tant que groupe social distinct au sein des élites impériales entre 1774 et 1815 ? Qui est noble ? Être un noble canadien après la Cession dans les empires français et britanniques, qu’est-ce que ça signifie ? Quelles sont les stratégies d’adaptation de la génération de la noblesse canadienne qui vit sa vie publique et adulte entre 1774 et 1815 ? Y a-t-il une « canadianisation » de la noblesse et, si oui, comment se caractérise-t-elle ? Les nobles canadiens s’adaptent-ils au nouveau régime ? Les élites influencent de façon importante la construction de la société dans laquelle elles évoluent : au XIXe siècle la société canadienne-française telle qu’on la connaît jusqu’au milieu du XXe siècle commence à se développer ; elle a en parti été mise en place par et pour les nobles canadiens. Ma recherche a donc pour but de trouver les mécanismes de reproduction des élites coloniales. C’est-à-dire de comprendre comment, en particulier, les nobles continuent à exister sous le Régime britannique. Mon hypothèse est que les nobles réussissent à trouver une forme d’équilibre entre le besoin de renouvellement qui découle du changement de régime et leur fidélité à des traditions présentées comme séculaires. Ce sont des « caméléons sociaux » qui existent à travers trois paradoxes : un imaginaire transnational dans une réalité juridique nationale ; un désir d’éternité couplé à un besoin d’évolution constant ; une culture de la distinction affirmée à l’intérieur de frontières poreuses. La thèse cherche encore à mieux comprendre comment se vit une identité transatlantique et coloniale, se détachant progressivement, mais jamais totalement des pairs de la « vieille Europe » et à travers la formation d’une identité américaine au sein des empires. Elle démontre également l’ambiguïté qui existe entre l’identité noble coloniale, qui pousse au détachement par rapport à la métropole, et l’identité élitaire, qui, au contraire, ramène les nobles canadiens vers l’Europe et les caractéristiques de son élite. Between 1774 and 1815, Canadian nobility attempted to stabilize their social position within a Canadian society now under British reign. In that order, nobles operated a cultural and social redefinition of their idea of nobility to adapt to the new regime. Thanks to the relationships that nobles who remained in the British Empire developed with those who left it, and the new elites who settled in the colony, it is possible to better understand how Canadian nobility reinvested its symbolic capital. The study of material, social and intellectual heritages as well as transmission mode make possible to examine the modalities of adaptation of the noble community. Finally, this nobility straddling two empires, whose networks spanned many territories, allows us to better perceive the changes that took place at that time in colonial societies and, more specifically, in North America and Canada. By studying five emblematic families of the Canadian nobility, this thesis attempts to answer the following problematic and sub-questions: how the French-speaking nobility is renewing itself and evolving as a distinct social group within the imperial elites between 1774 and 1815? Who is noble? What does it mean to be a Canadian nobleman after the Conquest in both French and British Empires? What are the coping strategies of the generation of Canadian nobility who lived their public and adult life between 1774 and 1815? Is there a “Canadianization” of the nobility and, if so, how is it characterized? Are nanadian nobles adjusting to the new regime? The elites significantly influence the construction of the society in which they operate: in the 19th century French Canadian society as we know it until the middle of the 20th century began to develop; it was in part set up by, and for, Canadian nobility. My research therefore aims to find its reproduction mechanisms. That is, to understand how, in particular, nobles continued to exist under British rule. My hypothesis is that the nobility manages to find some kind of balance between the need for renewal that arises from regime change and its loyalty to traditions presented as secular. Noblemen and women are “social chameleons” that exist through three paradoxes: a transnational imaginary in a national legal reality; a desire for eternity coupled with a constant need for evolution; a culture of distinction asserted within porous borders. This thesis seeks to better understand how a transatlantic and colonial identity is experienced, separating itself gradually, but never completely from the peers of "old Europe" and through the formation of a North American identity within the empires. It also demonstrates the ambiguity that exists between the noble colonial identity, which encourages detachment from the metropolis, and the elite identity, which, on the contrary, brings the Canadian nobles back to Europe and the characteristics of its elite.

In 1988, British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield describes a new type of phenomenon. According to his Since 1970, specialists have noticed an upsurged in the amount of diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Quebecois children and children across the world. Once considered “unfortunate souls” suffering from an “unknown illness”, autism is now a disorder the public is now well-aware of, and on which multiple studies were conducted. However, with the publication of a study in 1998 claiming the origins of the disorder is the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR vaccine), the conversation on autism is now polluted by the question of its origins, to the point few people have considered the portrayals of autism and autism in the period leading up to this publication, when the years 1970 to 1990 represent an important period in terms of the evolution of autism’s markers and its treatments, in Quebec in particular. To this end, a series of articles from daily newspapers La Presse and Le Devoir concerning autism over the period 1970-1998 were analyzed in order to highlight three important axes in the present research: the characteristics of autism, the causes of the disorder as well as the care of autistic people, and in particular, young autistic people. From this analysis, we first retain a transformation in the perception of the autistic, where the ‘idiot’ child of the 1970s becomes a misunderstood genius in the 1990s. Simultaneously, we note the appropriation by popular discourses of the role of parents (and mothers especially) on the origins of autism, as well as the popularization of the myth of giftedness in the 1990s. In order to answer these questions, the present dissertation hopes to question the thickness, complexity and temporality of these representations, and do so by trying to observe if those representations interact or are independent from each other during this period, and if we see through the press tensions between discourses used by both communities, or a mixture of mutual appropriations.

This master’s thesis analyses Italian women discourses on their living conditions in the feminine press during the fascist era, from 1922 to 1937. On the basis of three publications, l’Almanacco della donna italiana, La Donna Italiana: rivista mensile di lettere, scienze, arti e movimento sociale femminile and Il Giornale della donna, which will become, in 1935, La Donna Fascista, this study tries to demonstrate that maternity, employment and leisure are all present in the discourses, and that they have been written about openly. It is possible to note an evolution of the feminine points of view with the different events happening at the time, like Matteotti’s assassination and the new work legislation. Journalists share their ideas with multiple techniques. They use the parameters of the fascist regime to justify the role and services to which they pretend, as well as the gendered society division to self-assign some tasks and the ideals carried by the ideology to justify points of view. Therefore, despite freedom of expression restrictions during Benito Mussolini’s regime, women do have some latitude in the discourses related to their living condition, which have the particularity of being written strictly for a female audience. This thesis demonstrates the particularities of women’s discourses in a totalitarian society. To do so, the publication selection has been studied by statistical analysis first to seek out common subjects and journalists, and then by comparative analysis to demonstrate similarities and differences in the topics’ treatment.

From 1422 the Englishman John of Lancaster (1389-1435), duke of Bedford, was regent of his young nephew’s French kingdom. Because the treaty of Troyes (1420) provided for a long-lasting English presence in France, the regent had to put in place a social domination structure based on consent rather than coercion. In this context, the duke of Bedford devised a cultural and language policy inspired by the attitudes of the most prominent members of the Valois family. It allowed him to bolster support for his regime and legitimize his power. This policy is the main object of our research. We first propose to examine each element of Bedford’s cultural policy. His magnificent households, precious manuscripts and generous patronage were outward symbols of the might and stability of English rule in France. These possessions also allowed their owner to present himself as a legitimate member of continental courtly society. As such, they were a mean to strengthen the bond with his most important ally, his brother-in-law Philip, duke of Burgundy. At the same time the regent depicted himself, and by extension Henry VI, as the legitimate ruler of France by actively imitating past French kings. Some of his cultural enterprises can be conceived as propaganda. However under careful scrutiny these representations of power appear to have been intended not only for the conquered, but also for the conquerors themselves. We devote a second chapter to the exercise of power through writing. We analyze the duke’s production of written documents, both sides of the Channel, in light of its compliance to or defiance of French diplomatic tradition. In itself, the adoption of local practices and language was both respectful of the spirit of the treaty of Troyes and a convenient way to conceal the dynastic rift between Valois and Lancaster. On the other hand, the continued use of typical English documents in Bedford’s organization of the military reveals the limited extent of his acculturation. We also consider the important role of the French secretaries in the coordination between the two kingdoms, which in theory were supposed to be kept separate. Some of them were so involved in English affairs that they moved to England to serve Henry VI. In the end however the English bureaucracy remained mostly unaffected by extraneous innovations. Nonetheless, the very significant linguistic shift it underwent was contemporary, and linked, to the demise of Lancastrian France. The last chapter examines the contribution of other important figures of the anglo-burgundian cultural environment. The continental activity of magnates like Richard Beauchamp and soldiers like John Talbot exemplifies the relative vitality of courtly life in Lancastrian France and highlights the adoption of some elements of French culture by the English there. The subsequent patronage, circulation of texts and artists and, ultimately, the internalization of the Lancastrian French narrative, led to the transformation of English culture. This cultural appropriation contributed to the perpetuation of French language and literature in fifteenth-century England. Paradoxically, it also reinforced a properly English identity.

During the 1930s, France was hit by a political, economic, and diplomatic crisis which revealed many divisions in society. French journalists, seeking a solution to the national crisis, showed a particular interest towards their neighbor across the Rhine after the nomination of Hitler as Chancellor of Germany on January 30th, 1933. Hitler took advantage of France’s weakness and divisions to question but also oppose and act against the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles until the outbreak of World War II on September 1st, 1939. The objective of this research is to analyze how the French national press reacted to German revisionism from 1933 to 1939. In this context, the press’ perception of Hitler’s actions and how its opinions changed (or not) over time reveals the ways in which French newspapers interpreted events in Germany that affected France itself. By consulting editorials and opinion articles from five daily newspapers of different political orientations, namely L’Action française, L’Humanité, Le Figaro, Le Petit Parisien and Le Temps, this memoire analyse the opinion of the French national press on the revision of the Treaty of Versailles. This study contributes to the historiography of the interwar period and France’s reaction to German aggression in two ways. First, it shows that the press was not blind to Hitler’s revisionist plan. It also demonstrates that the French press remained divided concerning the actions of Nazi Germany until 1939. The protection of the Treaty of Versailles’ clauses and its system, which maintained the balance of power in Europe, polarised the French press and created a weakened national feeling until the outbreak of World War II. German revisionism fuelled the disagreements in the daily newspapers studied from 1933 to 1939.

This doctoral thesis in history focuses on the religious relationship between the ancient Romans and the freshwater which they lived nearby as inhabitants of a river town. This study starts from the observation that Romans are known for their technical knowledge of water and their aqueducts. However, religious beliefs associated with water have yet to be fully examined and remain scattered throughout historiography. To fill this gap, this study presents a synthesis of the aquatic cultures of the Romans from literary, archaeological, and epigraphic sources, dating mostly from the Late Republic and the High Empire (1st century BC. 3rd century)

This study aspires to place thirteenth-century Iceland more fully within the historiographical debate on the individual in the Middle Ages, which has tended to focus on continental Western Europe. It interrogates the perception that the ancient Icelanders had of themselves in relation to the notion of individualism. In turn, it seeks to identify the sustained relationship with the collective, to determine if the Icelanders could conceive and define themselves beyond group structures or membership. Analysis of the content of the sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur), a literary genre specific to Iceland, makes it possible to formulate a history of mentalité for this purpose. The notion of honor, a central theme in the texts, serves to evaluate the degree of individuality accorded the ancient Icelanders. The various dimensions of honor as expressed in the sagas are then dessected to answer this question. Honor is first considered in its relation to reputation. The importance of the idea of reputation as well as the process by which it is established is then observed. Analysis of how honor and its pursuit are motivating themes in the sagas are then considered. Finally, honor is perceived under the theme of the perception of oneʼs dignity and its social implications.