Fourteenth Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture in French History.
The Society for the Study of French History
and
The Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France
Present:
The Annual Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture,
Monday 22nd January 2024.
Adventures in the French Archives:
Finding Countess Ermengarde of Brittany, c. 1070-1147
Professor Amy Livingstone (Lincoln School of Humanities and Heritage)
The 2024 Annual Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture will be the 14th in this series, organised by the Society for the Study of French History and the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France. It will be held at the the Institut français, South Kensington, London.
Registration is essential, though attendance is free. Reservations can be made using Eventbrite at the following link:
We are delighted to welcome Professor Amy Livingstone (Lincoln School of Humanities and Heritage) to give a paper entitled ‘Adventures in the French Archives: Finding Countess Ermengarde of Brittany, c. 1070-1147’.
Abstract: Although described as the ‘jewel of Brittany’ by Bishop Marbode of Rennes, and respected by her peers, Countess Ermengarde of Brittany does not feature in the history of medieval France. This lecture will restore Ermengarde to view and situate her in the history eleventh and twelfth-century France. It will explore her accomplishments, such as co-ruling Brittany with her husband and adult son, her generous patronage and support of the church, her travel to the Holy Land – where she built a church, and her friendships with some of the most influential individuals of her day.
But why has Ermengarde been left out of accounts of the past? As well as discussing Ermengarde and her experiences, this lecture will address the scholarly process of finding Ermengarde and restoring her to accounts of the medieval past.
Bio: Amy Livingstone is the Head of the Lincoln School of Humanities and Heritage and Professor of Medieval History. Previously she was the Associate Dean of the Honors College and Professor of History at Ball State University in Indiana and the H.O. Hirt Professor of History at Wittenberg University in Ohio. She is a scholar of medieval Europe and her research focuses on the aristocracy of medieval France, particularly women and the family. She is the author of Out of Love for My Kin: Aristocratic Family Life in the Lands of the Loire, 1000-1200, Medieval Lives, c. 1000-1292: The World of the Beaugency Family, as well as many articles and essays. In 2017 she received the Medieval Academy of America/Committee on Centers and Regional Associations Teaching Excellence Award. Professor Livingstone is also the co-editor of Medieval People, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a former councillor of the Medieval Academy of America, and a life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge. Currently, she is working on a biography of of Countess Ermengarde of Brittany, the topic of her lecture.
Previous Lectures:
The First Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Julian Jackson (Queen Mary University of London), ‘The Century of Charles de Gaulle’ (November 2010).
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The Second Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Richard Thomson (Edinburgh University), ‘New Wine in Old Bottles: Adapting and Abusing Tradition in French Visual Culture, 1880-1910’ (January 2012).
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The Third Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Ruth Harris, (New College, Oxford), ‘Rolland, Gandhi and Madeleine Slade: Spiritual Politics, France and the Wider World’ (January 2013).
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The Fourth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Andrew Knapp, (University of Reading), ‘Bombing and Memory: Britain and France, 1940-1945’ (January 2014).
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The Fifth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor John Horne, (Trinity College Dublin), ‘Myth or Model? The French Revolution in the Great War’ (January 2015).
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The Sixth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Siân Reynolds, (University of Stirling), ‘Children of the Revolutionaries’ (January 2016).
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The Seventh Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Colin Jones (Queen Mary), ‘Rethinking Robespierre and the French Revolutionary Terror’ (January 2017).
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The Eighth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Malcolm Crook (Keele), ‘How the British and French Learned to Vote’ (January 2018).
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The Ninth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Máire Cross (Newcastle University), ‘Too Hot to Handle? Flora Tristan (1803-1844) Campaigner for Gender Equlality’ (January 2019).
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The Tenth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Debra Kelly (University of Westminster), ‘Free French Food: Dining Out With the Free French in Wartime London’ (January 2020).
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The Eleventh Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Michael Boers (University of Oxford), ‘Napoleon as a European: A Certain Vision of France & Europe’ (January 2021).
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The Twelfth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Penny Roberts (University of Warwick), ‘The Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacres 450 years on’ (January 2022).
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The Thirteenth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Chris Tinker (Heriot-Watt University), ‘À la vie, à la mort: Media Representations of Posthumous Celebrity in France and the UK’ (January 2023).
The Fourteenth Douglas Johnson Annual Lecture:
Professor Amy Livingstone (University of Lincoln), ‘Adventures in the French Archives: Finding Countess Ermengarde of Brittany, c.1070-1147’ (January 2024).
