The Revolution in Lyon (exhibition)

The Departmental Archives in Lyon currently features an exhibition on the Revolution in the Lyon area. "Ruptures et Fondations: La Révolution dans le Rhône et à Lyon" runs at from 20th September 2024 to 23rd March 2025.

Haiti remembers its Revolution

On 1st-2nd January Haiti celebrated its 221st Independence Day in Port-au-Prince.  Haiti is a country with many problems, but the busts of the Haitian Revolutionaries were splendid. 

400 years of the Palais-Royal (exhibtion)

 The Domaine national du Palais-Royal in Paris is currently celebrating 400 years of history with a free exhibition.  

Christmas at Vaux-le-Vicomte

 This week, The Earful Tower podcast (hosted Australian expat Oliver Gee), focuses on Christmas at the Château of Vaux-le-Vicomte, home to a magnificent (and loosely period) festive extravaganza known as "Le Grand Noël". 

Royal College of Thiron-Gardais

A new French TV documentary,  aired on 18th December 2024,  celebrates the completion by Stéphane Bern of his marathon project to restore the Royal and Military College of Thiron-Gardais, Eure-et-Loir.  The former Tiron Abbey, which is now open to the public, became one of Louis XVI's twelve military colleges in 1776.

The martyrs of Compiègne - canonisation confirmed

On 18th December the Pope officially announced the canonisation of the sixteen Carmelite martyrs of  Compiègne",  guillotined as Counter-Revolutionaries in Paris on 17 July 1794.

Madame du Châtelet - new online resource

The Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists at Paderborn University, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ruth E. Hagengrubern, launches its historical and critical digital edition of Émilie Du Châtelet’s Institutions de Physique (17th December).

Gouverneur Morris

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia publishes a podcast devoted to The Life and Constitutional Legacy of Gouverneur Morris (12th December 2024)

A Voltaire bibliography

In a post of 6th December on the Voltaire Foundation blog, Síofra Pierse, Head of Languages at  University College Dublin, comments on her new work Voltaire: A Reference Guide to His Life and Works.

Largillière's "Monument Men" portrait

A portrait  by Nicolas de Largillière, which formerly belonged to Henri Rothschild, was sold by Christie's Paris on 21st November for a record €529,200 - ten times more than the original estimate.

Science Museum - Versailles exhibition

This season's major event at the Science Museum in South Kensington is an exhibition on Versailles!  Versailles: Science and Splendour runs from 12th December 2024 to 21st April 2025.

Essays in honour of Nicholas Cronk

Liverpool University Press announces the publication on 29th November of a festschrift in honour of Nicholas Cronk, Director of the Voltaire Foundation, Professor of European Enlightenment Studies, and Fellow of St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford.