Venue: Bishopstown Library, Wilton, Cork

The course surveys the history and monuments of Paris. It begins with pre-Roman Celtic settlements, and the history of Lutetia Parisiorum within the Roman Empire. It surveys the great university city of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, its churches and its monuments. It examines the history and monuments of Paris under the Ancien Régime, during the Revolution, and under Napoleon. It surveys the expansion of the city in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and Paris at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In all periods reference will be made to the architects, writers and artists who described and adorned the city. It is not intended to organize a tour of Paris as part of this course; however, during the course there will be discussion of how members and their friends might best explore Paris. The structure of this course is based on that of existing courses on Rome and Venice: it will make cross-references to these existing courses, and to links between Paris, Rome and Venice. The lectures in this course will be given Pro Bono Publico, the proceeds of the course going to update and expand the Transmissions and Transformations of the Ancient World collection in the Boole Library.

LECTURE ONE The Seine, the hills, and the marshes: the geology of Paris and the Seine; the Parisii and Celtic remains from the Paris region; the city of Lutetia Parisiorum in the Roman Empire; early Christian Paris, and its saints (St Denis, St Geneviève, Saint-Germain des Prés); Paris and the Carolingians, Paris and the Capetians. The early walls and bridges of Paris, and the beginnings of the University. Special places: the Musée de Cluny, the Musée Carnavalet, the parvis in front of Nôtre Dame, Le Châtelet.

LECTURE TWO Paris as the most important city in medieval Europe. Paris under Philippe Augustus (1180-1223), St Louis IX (1226-1270) and Charles V (1364-1380). The Armagnacs, the Burgundians and Joan of Arc in Paris. The university and the ‘Quartier Latin’. The Beginnings of the Louvre and of the Bastille. The beginnings of the Renaissance in Paris and at Fontainebleau: the Italian factor. Special places: Saint-Denis, Nôtre Dame, the Sainte Chapelle, the château of Fontainebleau, the Louvre. The poetry of François Villon (1431-after 1462).

LECTURE THREE From the Renaissance to the “Grand Siècle” (Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries, 1500-1650): François I, Henri II and their successors, and the wars of Religion. The Italian influence: Cathérine de Médicis and Marie de Médicis. Louis XIII, the Fronde, and the young Louis XIV. Paris in the work of François Rabelais (1494-1553). Special places: The Tuileries, the Palais du Luxembourg, the monastery of Val de Grâce, the Collège des Quatre Nations, Hôtel Carnavalet and the Marais.

LECTURE FOUR From Louis XIV to Enlightenment Paris, 1700-1789. Louis XIV and Paris, and his abandonment of Paris for Versailles. The reign of Louis XV, and the importance of enlightenment writers. Special places: The Louvre, Les Invalides, the Château de Versailles, the Palais Royale.

LECTURE FIVE Paris in the French Revolution; Paris and Napoleon. The Revolution and the geography of Paris; iconoclasm, and the efforts to build up collections of the shattered monuments and patrimony of the past. The Paris of Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). Special places: the Conciergerie, the Temple, The Hôtel Bourbon, Place Louis XV – Place de la Révolution – Place de la Concorde, the canal de l’Ourcq. Napoleon and the looting of Italian monuments for the Louvre and elsewhere. Waterloo and the (partial) return of the loot.

LECTURE SIX Restoration, Orléanist and Republican Paris 1815-50 Special places: the monuments at Saint-Denis, the Bastille column, the obelisk of Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe and Napoleon’s tomb in the Invalides. The Paris of Balzac, Victor Hugo, Delacroix, Baudelaire, Flaubert.

LECTURE SEVEN Paris, Napoleon III, and the French Republic: the Paris of Haussmann. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and subsequent civil war: the Paris Commune of 1871, burning and massacre. The Dreyfus affair. Zola and the impressionist painters. The Paris of Marcel Proust. Special study: the street scenes of Gustave Caillebotte. Special places: the Louvre, The Tuileries gardens, Montmartre, the Champs Élysées, the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, the Sacre-Coeur and the Eiffel Tower.

LECTURE EIGHT Paris in the twentieth century to 1945: the Paris of modernism: Proust, Joyce, Scott Fitzgerald. Paris in the first and second World Wars. Montparnasse. Paris under German occupation, 1940-1944. Special study: the Trocadéro and the Universal Exhibitions of 1900 and 1937; the foundation and growth of the Métro.

LECTURE NINE Paris since 1945. The left bank. The gentrification of Paris? Les Grands Projets. The destruction of Les Halles. Musée D’Orsay. La Défense. The Pompidou Centre. The new Bibliothèque Nationale. The fourth and fifth republics: Algeria and immigration.

Applicants must be over 18 years of age by course commencement

The course is open to those have visited Paris, but would like to fill in some basic facts about the history of the city; but equally to armchair travellers who know little of Paris, but would like a chance to think in advance of what places they might visit the next time they go. While reference will be made to books in French, knowledge of French is not necessary to enjoy the course.

Short courses are non-assessed

Professor Emeritus Éamonn Ó Carragáin has since 1984 given successful Adult Education courses at UCC on Rome and Venice. In developing the present course on Paris, which was his first love among European cities, he will emphasize the links between these three great cities.

Regina Sexton, Short Course Co-ordinator

E. r.sexton@ucc.ie

T: 00353 21 4904700

Marian O’Keeffe

E: marian.okeeffe@ucc.ie

T: 00353 21 4904700