FRANCE AND THE EARLY MODERN MEDITERRANEAN, 1500-1800

France produced one of the greatest theorists of the Mediterranean. Until recently, however, the birthplace of Fernand Braudel, a country recognized for pioneering modern imperialism, has remained marginal to scholarship about the early modern “Inner Sea” – whether as a center, anchoring traditional histories about the Rise of the West; a frontier, especially between Islam and Christendom; or a crossroads for diverse peoples, commodities, beliefs, technologies and diseases. Yet for centuries France’s geographical features, commercial engagements and political commitments all oriented the kingdom towards the sea and the wider world.

Taking the Mediterranean as both a concept and a body of water, this special issue of French History invites discussion about what the Mediterranean meant to France, and what France meant to the Mediterranean during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Potential topics might include the circulation of scientific knowledge, cultural representation and performance, exile, migration, and travel, diplomacy, animals, religious devotion, trans-religious engagement, material culture and slavery.

Interested contributors should submit a one-page prospectus and bibliography in French or English by May 1, 2013. Selections will be made by June 1, 2013. Final submissions (max 10,000 words including footnotes) will be expected by March 1, 2014. Please send all enquiries and proposals to Gillian Weiss (glw@case.edu) and Megan Armstrong (marmstr@mcmaster.ca).