The Siècle History Podcast

During the Bourbon Restoration, one man's songs were everywhere. He wrote about politics and about love, for the rich and for the poor, and persevered despite the best efforts of the government to shut him up. Meet the Bob Dylan of the Restoration: Pierre-Jean de Béranger — including audio clips! This episode is an interview with Prof. Sophie-Anne Leterrier, author of Béranger: des Chansons pour u...

Buffeted by a bad election, King Charles X is forced to appoint a more moderate ministry. Can Prime Minister Martignac forge a middle course before his boss gets fed up with concessions? Support The Siècle for as little as $1 per month on Patreon, or make a one-time donation, online at thesiecle.com/support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Restoration France had an elected parliament, but its elections were radically different from the voting we're familiar with today. Here's how they did it, from tax-based voting rights to not-so-secret ballots to candidates running and winning in multiple districts at once. Visit thesiecle.com/supplemental16 for a full transcript of this episode with notes, pictures and charts.  Learn more about y...

King Charles X's reign was marked by web of conspiracy theories about the alleged role of two secretive Catholic organizations: the Jesuits and the enigmatic Congregation. Let's dive in to what was true, what was false, and why ultimately it didn't really matter what the facts were. Visit thesiecle.com/episode32 for a full annotated transcript, and Patreon to support the show for as little as $1 p...

Many people have quoted a famous quip about the Bourbon Restoration, that "The Bourbons have learned nothing and forgotten nothing." While this is a real quote, more or less, almost everything people think they know about it is wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The enemy redoubles his efforts," King Charles X wrote in September 1827, shortly before he dissolved the French parliament in a risky political gambit. "However, I am resolved to act with firmness and wisdom and am entirely confident that in the end we will overcome all obstacles." Did he? Let's find out.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Delacroix painting, a Rossini opera and a Dumas novel help demonstrate the profound impact that the Greek War of Independence had on French art and literature. Visit thesiecle.com/supplemental15 for a full transcript of this episode with notes, illustrations and music.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Greeks go into revolt against the Ottoman Empire — a revolt that fires the imaginations of France and the rest of Europe. The French government reacts with ambivalence, but many French men and women enthusiastically adopt the Greek cause. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A small but crucial group of Restoration politicians were centrist liberals who championed constitutional monarchy against enemies to the right and left. Meet the brilliant and controversial clique who are known to history as the Doctrinaires. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thousands of French men and women fled the country during the Revolution. Who were they, what were their lives like in exile — and how did they handle it when they finally came back home? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I join Benjamin Jacobs from the Wittenberg to Westphalia podcast for a deeper dive into "scrofula," the skin condition whose sufferers Charles X touched at his coronation in a medieval ritual believed to hold the power of healing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Jonathan Spangler joins the show to explain the French institution of "Monsieur" and how it shaped French courts over the centuries. Be sure to follow The Siècle on Twitter @thesiecle, or on Facebook.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

King Charles X begins his long-awaited reign in a warm glow of popularity, but his honeymoon phase won't last forever as he begins to push a controversial agenda for France. Be sure to follow The Siècle on Twitter @thesiecle, or on Facebook.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A famous — or infamous — chapter in Victor Hugo's masterpiece Les Misérables is "The Year 1817," a length recitation of a series of minor events that happened in France in that year. As a special bonus episode, take a dive into that chapter — and see how many of his obscure events you now recognize! To learn more, visit the show's website for abundant annotations. Learn more about your ad choices....

The restoration of the Bourbons also meant a restoration of Catholicism as the state religion of France — delighting some, and outraging others. Not only is religion vital to fully understand Restoration France, it's especially vital to understand the new King Charles X. Be sure to follow The Siècle on Twitter @thesiecle, or on Facebook.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi...

Restoration France as analyzed by an outsider with intimate knowledge of France both on the battlefield and in the salons — Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'll be giving a talk at the upcoming Intelligent Speech online history podcast conference on April 24, 2021, about the experience of French émigrés during and after the Revolution. Visit intelligentspeechconference.com to buy tickets and use the offer code "siecle" for 10 percent off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Louis XVIII dead, the new king is his younger brother, the Comte d'Artois. But what kind of man is France's new king? To see, let's rewind back through the first 10 years of the Restoration, from the point of view of the very charming and very conservative Artois. Be sure to follow The Siècle on Twitter @thesiecle, or on Facebook.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...

After 10 years on the throne, King Louis XVIII of France's health enters a terminal decline. As he tries to entrench his legacy with one final accomplishment, what are we to make of the reign of France's restored king? Be sure to follow The Siècle on Twitter @thesiecle, or on Facebook.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the defeat of his efforts to bring about liberal reform in France through both legal and illegal means, the Marquis de Lafayette in 1824 boarded a ship for the fledgling United States, where he would be celebrated as "the nation's guest" in a momentous tour. Learn more in conversation with Lafayette expert Alan Hoffman. Visit the show's website for a transcript, pictures, and a link to purch...

Conspiracy is in the air in France. In a world of secret societies and paranoid styles, the Bourbon Restoration clings to power while secretive cells spread across the country. The fate of the entire country is up for grabs as the French army is forced to decide its loyalty. Visit the show's website for supplementary material, including a locator map and annotated timeline of events. Be sure to fo...

An 1822 account of civil war on the Franco-Spanish border by an up-and-coming liberal journalist named Adolphe Thiers, who observes a refugee crisis, battles between liberal and conservative forces, and the disposition of French soldiers preparing to intervene. Be sure to follow The Siècle on Twitter @thesiecle, or on Facebook.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Bastille Day! But in the Bourbon Restoration, Bastille Day was banned, along with "La Marseillaise" and the tricolor flag. In this special episode, find out how these modern-day symbols of France were treated, and what the Bourbons used in their place. Be sure to follow The Siècle on Twitter @thesiecle, or on Facebook.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The wars, murders and political battles covered on The Siècle were first covered by France's newspapers — which were very different than the newspapers of today. Take a tour into the strange world of Restoration journalism, and learn the truth behind one of the most famous collections of French newspaper headlines. Be sure to follow The Siècle on Twitter @thesiecle, or on Facebook.  Learn more abo...

Napoleon Bonaparte is dead — but he still lives on, in myth and legend, in flowers and tobacco boxes, in jails and asylums, and above all in the political memory of Restoration France, for whom even death cannot rid them of their greatest foe.  Be sure to follow The Siècle on Twitter @thesiecle, or on Facebook.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices