International meetig
Boulogne 1550
Boulogne-sur-Mer, 23-25 November 2023
Circle of Studies in Boulonnais Country
Littoral Côte d’Opale University, UR HLLI
Organizers: Isabelle Clauzel-Delannoy, Jean Devaux
On April 25, 1550, St. Mark’s Day, King Henry II of France made his solemn entry into the city of Boulogne-sur-Mer, bought from the English after six years of occupation. The event, hailed by literature and music, marks the city’s transition to the modern era: new town charter, renovation of the customary Boulogne, creation of a presidial, opening of new accounting documents and parish registers, urban and architectural transformations. Organized jointly by the Littoral Côte d’Opale University and the Cercle d’Etudes en Pays Boulonnais with the support of the municipality, this scientific event will aim to shed new light on this decisive stage in the history of the Boulonnais region and to situate it more broadly in its regional, national and international political context. The field of investigation will include the Seneschal of Boulogne as well as its relational fields, and will extend from 1532 to 1568. The colloquium, open to a large public, will also make it possible to highlight the rich collection of manuscripts and of the Library of the Annonciades as well as the archival documents and the archaeological objects preserved for five centuries by the city of Boulogne.
Lines of research
1) The capture of Boulogne and the English occupation (1544-1550)
We will thus examine the military and human circumstances that allowed the conquest of this reputedly impregnable port city, described in one of the missives of Maximilian of Austria as a “marvelously strong city of walls and covered ditches”.
After recalling the tragic episode of the surrender of Boulogne, the six years of English occupation will constitute part of the study that should be carried out in the light of incomplete and little-explored documentation to date. We will wonder about the plans of King Henry VIII of England for the fate of Boulogne and their realization. We will also be interested in the modifications of daily life imposed by the English officers and in the relations of the occupier with the urban population, as well as the involvement of the surrounding villages.
French attempts to recapture the city, diplomatically and militarily, will come under scrutiny. The Treaty of Ardres was signed in 1546 and, in 1547, new Franco-English borders were fixed; despite these agreements, Boulogne experienced four years of armed peace until its takeover in 1550: fortification works on both sides, naval battles off the city or in English waters, blockade, attacks against the garrison , to the point that the events took the name of “Question of Boulogne”.
2) The redemption of Boulogne from England
For what purposes the redemption of the city, concluded by François Iis and paid off by Henry II, was it negotiated? We will define the conditions fixed by the treaties of Ardres and Capécure and their execution. We will discuss the circumstances that accompanied the departure of the English, the release of the French hostages, the solemn entry of King Henry II of France into his recovered city and the punishment suffered by Jacques de Coucy and Oudard du Biez, accused of high treason for having left the place.
We will be interested in the testimony of contemporary chroniclers and memorialists who deplored the suffering caused by these years of siege, especially since the plague had invaded the Boulonnais, killing even the Dauphin of France. On the other hand, the recovery of the city gave rise to beautiful songs for the occasion, such as those of Clément Jannequin: “For you, oh my prince” and “Wake up Boulongnois”. Saint Mark’s Day was henceforth a holiday in Boulogne by royal decision, instead of other medieval festivities. King Henry II was remembered as the savior of Boulogne: in the 19the century, a large bust of Henry II was erected near the rampart. The popular jubilation will deserve an examination in the light of the preserved sources.
The city of Boulogne experienced a real revival in 1550, which then entered the modern era. King Henry II grants him a new town charter, confirming the exemptions which the inhabitants had enjoyed in ancient times, allocates the receipts of indirect taxes to the repair of the town and authorizes the treasurers of this one not to render their accounts. only from 1563. A presidial was created in 1552 in application of the edict of Crémieu, registers of catholicity were put in place following the ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539), the customary of the medieval Boulonnais was reformed in 1550. The city was rebuilt and modernized, paved its streets, aligned its houses “à la française”, tiled its roofs, created a college, adapted its port. The choice of Boulogne as the episcopal seat in 1559, sought in vain for five centuries, crowned the efforts of the inhabitants.
3) The political context
The Boulogne event will be placed in the tumultuous political context of the first half of the 16the century, of which the North of France was one of the epicentres. In the wake of the work of David Potter and Charles Giry-Deloison, we will endeavor to define the premises: conflicts and Franco-English pacts in Calais and Boulonnais, such as, in 1532, the remake of Camp du Cloth of Gold (1532), campaign led by François Iis against Charles V and peace of Crépy (1537-1544). We will wonder about the respective roles of the emperor and the future Henry II in the “Boulogne affair”.
Capetian interest in the city of Boulogne deserves attention: as early as 1535, the king had an inventory of the Boulogne titles held at the Château de Vic carried out. Queen Catherine de Medici, last lady of Boulogne, had a genealogy of her ancestors written in 1556. We also know that the conflicts which took place in Brittany and Normandy served royal propaganda: in this field, the affair of Was Boulogne a missed and difficult to catch up meeting?
Finally, we will attempt to assess the impact of the return of the city to Capetian construction. Stronghold and city of law, but also seat of seneschalsy and soon of bishopric, its role varied again after the recovery of Calais by François de Guise in 1558, and, the same year, the fire of Thérouanne. Boulogne was to keep, at least in title, a special status within Greater Picardy, until the Estates General of 1789.
International Scientific Committee
Jean-Marie Cauchies, Member of the Royal Academy of Belgium, Professor at Saint-Louis University (Brussels)
Alain Joblin, Professor at the University of Artois
David Potter, Professor at the University of Kent
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Paper proposals accompanied by a ten-line argument and a brief curriculum vitae must be sent to the organizers before September 10, 2022:
[email protected], [email protected]
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