Terenteva, E. A.
The Image of the French Monarchy as a Constituting Element of the French Ethno-Cultural Identity in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century, in: Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social History and Culture. 2026. Vol. 9(1). P. 173–188.
Ekaterina Anatolyevna Terenteva, Doctor of History, Associate Professor, Institute of History, St. Petersburg State University (199034, Russia, , St. Petersburg, Universitetskaya Embankment, 7/9)
e.a.terenteva@spbu.ru
Language: Russian
In France the historical past since the Middle Ages has been associated with the idea of the French monarchy, and the ethno-cultural identity of the French, which was formed in the early modern period, was largely focused on the figure of the king. Loyalty to the French king in the minds of his subjects was much stronger a basis of the taking shape proto-national unity in the seventeenth century than the awareness of belonging to some single territorial community. The apologists of the monarchy preached the idea of uniting the country under the hand of the monarch and insisted that subordination to the Rois thaumaturges sanctified by the Chrismation was the basis for belonging to the French Kingdom. Most French intellectuals studying various aspects of French history, especially the erudite court historiographers sought to illustrate the strength of the French royal house, regardless of the ruling dynasty. The legacy of a prominent royal geographer and historiographer of Henri IV and Louis XIII, André Duchesne, «the father of French history», clearly shows a consistent desire to orient the reader to the ideal (abstract) figure of the French monarch as a key figure in French history, present and future. At the same time, the image of the French monarch in Duchesne’s legacy was exempt from supernatural components (primarily miracle-making), while preserving only the idea of the divine origin of royal power. At the same time, in Duchesne works on various subjects the French monarchy acquired many characteristics and features, from geographical ones to various attributes of power, ceremonies and prerogatives of the royal family. Such traits in depicting the French monarchy strengthened the role of its image in the emerging ethno-cultural and ethno-political identity of the entity that would transform into the French nation in the eighteenth century.
Keywords: André Duchesne, early modern times, nation building, erudites, ethno-cultural identity, France, historical writing, monarchy, sixteenth century, seventeenth century
Постоянная ссылка: http://proslogion.ru/91-terenteva/
20466847PDFOCR
