The Crisis of the Absolute Monarchy: An

The Crisis of the Absolute Monarchy:
An international conference in honour of
Professor William Doyle, FBA
The British Academy
14-15 December 2009
Venue:
The British Academy
10 Carlton House Terrace
London, SW1Y 5AH
The aim of this conference is to consider the political crisis confronting the absolute monarchy in the
crucial years before 1789 and to refocus debate on the origins of the French Revolution by bringing
together an international team of experts on eighteenth-century government, state-formation, military
and diplomatic history in order to examine the theme of ‘The crisis of the Absolute Monarchy’.
The organisers would like to thank the British Academy, The Ambassade de France au Royaume-Uni,
the Society for the Study of French History, Oxford University Press, Birkbeck College, the University
of Reading, and the BBC History Magazine for their generous support.
Réunissant une équipe internationale d'historiens spécialistes de l'Etat, de la politique, de la religion, de
l'armée et de la diplomatie au 18e siècle, cette conférence se propose de contribuer au débat sur les
origines de la Révolution en portant son attention sur le thème de la crise de la monarchie absolue.
Les organisateurs tiennent à remercier la British Academy, l'Ambassade de France au Royaume-Uni, la
Society for the Study of French History, Birkbeck College, l'Université de Reading, BBC History
Magazine et les Presses de l'Université d'Oxford pour leur généreux soutien.
The Crisis of the Absolute Monarchy: An International
Conference in honour of Professor William Doyle, FBA
The British Academy
14-15 December 2009
MONDAY 14 DECEMBER
9.00-09.45
Registration
09.45-10.45
Professor T.C.W. Blanning (University of Cambridge), ‘Bill
Doyle and the Origins of the French Revolution’
10.45-11.00
Tea/Coffee
11.00-13.00
Chair: Professor Malcolm Crook (Keele University)
Professor Joël Félix (University of Reading), ‘The problem
with Necker’s Compte rendu au Roi (1781)’
Dr Nigel Aston (University of Leicester), ‘Necker's aristocratic
constitutionalism: the British connection'’
Professor Julian Swann (Birkbeck College), ‘Servants of the
king or the nation? The politics of disgrace in the reign of Louis
XVI’
13.00-14.00
Lunch
14.00-16.00
Chair: Professor Philippe Loupès (Professeur émérite à
l'Université Bordeaux III - Michel de Montaigne)
Professor David Bell (John Hopkins University), ‘A roi de
guerre despite himself: war, pacifism, and the French
monarchy in the eighteenth century’
Professor Olivier Chaline (Université de Paris-IV), ‘La
monarchie des Bourbons et la rivalité navale franco-anglaise’
Dr Guy Rowlands (University of St Andrews), ‘The maison
militaire du roi and the coming of the French revolution’
Tea/Coffee
16.30-18.00
Chair: Professor Marianne Elliott (University of Liverpool)
Dr Mike Rapport (University of Stirling), 'The crisis of the old
regime seen from the colonial perspective'
Dr Michael Broers (University of Oxford), ‘The fall of a
textbook absolutism; the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in the
age of revolutions’
Drinks Reception (Sponsored by the BBC History Magazine)
20.00
Conference Dinner. The Oxford and Cambridge Club
TUESDAY 15 DECEMBER
09.00-11.00
Chair: Professor Guy Chaussinand-Nogaret (Directeur de
recherches honoraire à l'EHESS)
Professor Tom Kaiser (University of Arkansas at Little Rock),
‘The Austrian Alliance and the Emergence of a French
‘National’ Foreign Policy, 1756-1789’
Professor Hamish Scott (University of St Andrews),
'Reputation and Revolution: International decline and the fall
of the Bourbon monarchy'
Professor Munro Price (University of Bradford), ‘The Maréchal
de Castries and the pre-Revolution’
Tea/Coffee
11.30-13.00
Chair: Dr Marisa Linton (Kingston University)
Dr Rafe Blaufarb (Florida State University), ‘Female Lordship
and the French Revolution’
Dr Clarisse Coulomb (Université Pierre Mendès France,
Grenoble), ‘Des histoires communales: Aux sources du
discours anti-nobiliaire en France’
13.00-14.00
Lunch
14.00-16.00
Chair: Professor Josette Pontet (Professeur émérite à
l'Université Bordeaux III - Michel de Montaigne)
Professor Michel Figeac (Université Bordeaux III - Michel de
Montaigne), ‘Entre traditionalisme et modernité, quelques clés
de compréhension du malaise nobiliaire à la veille de la
Révolution française’
Professor Jean-Pierre Poussou (Professeur émérite d'Histoire
moderne à l'Université de Paris-IV), 'Du bon ou du mauvais
usage de la notion de crise à propos du règne de Louis XVI'
Dr Peter Campbell (University of Sussex), 'Pre-revolution and
the concept of crisis'
Tea/Coffee
16.30-17.30
Chair Professor Colin Jones (Queen Mary, University of
London), Round Table Discussion: The Crisis of the Absolute
Monarchy reconsidered
17.30
Close
Enrolment Form
The Crisis of the Absolute Monarchy: An International Conference in Honour of
Professor William Doyle, FBA
I would like to enrol for the above and enclose the sum of £95 (£75
Students/Unwaged) to include conference fee, lunch on 14 and 15 December, teas and
coffee on both days and evening reception)
NAME ………………………………………………………………………….
ADDRESS ………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………...
POSTCODE …………………………………………………………………….
Email ……………………………………………………………………………
Payment Details (Please tick)
 Cheque
 Credit/Debit card
Cheques should be made payable to ‘Birkbeck College’
Credit/Debit card details
 Mastercard
 Visa
 Maestro
 Delta
 Switch
Card Name ……………………………………………………………………
Card No ………………………………………………………………………
Start Date …………………
Expiry Date …………………………..
Security Code (last 3 digits on back of card) ……………………..
Issue number (Switch only) ……………………
BILLING ADDRESS (if different from above)………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………Postcode ………………...
Please return completed forms to:
Professor Julian Swann, Department of History, Classics and Archaeology, Birkbeck
College, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX
[email protected]