Rodama: a blog of 18th-century & Revolutionary France

 [For International Women's Day] It is an odd quirk of history that, whereas Marie Curie has been awarded the honours of the Pantheon, t...

 To add to my posts on the Carmelites of Compiègne, the following translates / summarise a  paper by Jean-Clément Martin on the Revolution a...

The documentary  Les Bienheureuses,  on the Martyrs of Compiègne, was created in 2023 by journalist and independent filmmaker François Lespe...

Paul Delaroche, Guillotine/ The Martyrs of Compiegne. Painted in the first half of the 19th century. Private Collection ( Auctioned in New Y...

Even for assiduous relic hunters, there are pathetically few material reminders today of the martyred sisters of Compiègne.  However, the we...

On 18th December the Pope announced the canonisation of  the "martyrs of  Compiègne",  sixteen Discalced Carmelite nuns executed b...

The Château de Haroué in Lorraine offers an illuminating case study of the issues surrounding recent heritage policy in France. Sometimes kn...

"The Duc de Lorraine seems  very fond of  my daughter.  If only this love could endure, they will both be very happy.  "But alas t...

Élisabeth-Charlotte d'Orléans, Duchess of Lorraine. School of Pierre Gobert,  Château de Versailles MV3690 [ Wikimedia ] One result of t...

  Claude Jacquart, Marriage cortège of the prince de Lixheim in the courtyard of the palace of Lunéville, on 19th August 1721. Oil on canvas...