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Historian Patrick Boucheron revisits the most important dates in history through the prisms of memory and collective imagination.
2020
April 21, 753 BC: The Roman world was certain of its foundation date for more than 1000 years. The mythical tale, Ab Urbe Condita, formalized by Titus Livius, was based on the struggle of its founding twins: sons to a god, Mars, and a virgin, Rhea Silvia. Archaeological research and historical critics are now convinced of two things: the city is older and the myth is more recent.
The defeat of Alesia, in 52 BC, marked the end of the well-known “Gallic War”, immortalized by its winner, Julius Caesar. Year zero of our French national history, Alesia became the founding act of an improbable Gallic unit, personalized in the guise of an impossible hero, Vercingetorix.
In the middle of the 8th century, the chancellery of the bishops of Rome was on the verge of becoming a spiritual heir to the Western emperors. That was when it committed the most important forgery in the history of the West.
The fall of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire – a power descending from none other than ancient Rome. Its symbolism has long since transcended its actual significance.
Despite its worldwide fame, Lascaux is no longer considered to be the “Palace of Versailles” or the “Sistine Chapel” of prehistory, and is no longer considered to be the place of invention or creation of art. What if Lascaux was actually from a “Middle Ages” of prehistoric and human art?
In 1911, the expedition led by the Norwegian Amundsen reached the South Pole, beating the British Scott to the punch. The story of the conquest of the poles is the last chapter of a long epic, closing the age of the great scientific explorations that began at the end of the 18th century and became extraordinarily popular since the end of the 19th century.
The assassination of Henri IV, peacemaking and reformist king, is as much a canonical scene in the History of France as it is a decisive break in political modernity. And first of all because it is a newsworthy event with an almost global dimension. We know that its spread to the “four corners of the world” is an indication of an open, if not connected, world.
Why was Socrates condemned by the city of Athens? Was the figure of the master thinker, who could subvert the youth, really a danger to a Greek democracy that was more idealized than it was understood?
On 25 August 1270 Louis IX died on the hill above Carthage. He was the only king in the history of France to die outside of national borders; even worse, on non-Christian soil. This day was a milestone in the career of a saint in the making. Even though the canonization of Saint Louis did not take place until 27 years later, in 1297.
On October 17, 1961, at the call of the FLN, 20 to 30,000 Algerians from France peacefully marched through Paris. 12,000 people were arrested. The round-up, organized by the police prefect Maurice Papon, was followed by very brutal abuses and numerous disappearances.
The expression “Spring of Nations” inspired the more recent “Arab Spring” of 2011. Also known as the Springtime of the Peoples, the period was characterized by a cascade of national claims. However, these movements had difficulties in coordinating, for the simple reason that these movements first of all stemmed from a desire to draw definite borders, rather than to open them.
The capture and looting of Emperor Qing Xianfeng's two summer palaces in Beijing (Peking) was the culmination of the Second Opium War; pitting the colonial powers of France and the United Kingdom against China. Yet it was also a double-edged sword.
The American revolution is sometimes watered down to the point where it can become an almost silent revolution.
What happened in the year 1000? Nothing: this date does not correspond to any major event. The passage from the first to the second millennium was not really an event for those who lived through it. The infamous “Terrors of the Year 1000” were largely an invention of 19th century Romantic historiography.
What if Blake and Mortimer had been right in the Mystery of the Great Pyramid? The history of the seventeen-year reign of Akhenaten, the 10th Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, sometimes still seems to be a real historical mystery.
The Arab chronicles of the fourteenth century bristle with a rumor: from the farthest lands to the west of the known world, across the Sahara desert, a black emperor and his court crossed the lands of Islam on a pilgrimage to Mecca, staying in what was at the time the capital of the Islamic world, Cairo.
In the middle of the 8th century AD, in the heart of Central Asia, on the borders of present-day Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, a battle without victors was fought.
On April 21, 1526, the little king of Kabul Babur boldly took northern India from the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi. With his victory, the time of the second Islamization begins, which will spread to the shores of Indonesia.
Apart from Tolstoy's readers, few people actually know about the battle of Borodino, fought some 100 km from Moscow. Even today it remains a landmark and symbol of the Russian resistance to the invader Napoleon Bonaparte.
Before the attacks of 2001 took its place, September 11 was associated with another global event: that of the overthrow of the socialist government of Popular Unity by the Chilean armed forces, supported by the American secret service, in 1973.
2018
Christians believe Jesus is a man who preached and performed miracles and died on the cross but was resurrected. But for historians, the crucifixion is the least unreliable indicator of the Jesus' existence.
Muhammed’s first year in Medina, in year 622 of the Christian era, marks the beginning of the Muslim era and the birth of a new religion, civilisation, empire and calendar. The Hegira, Muhammed’s visit to the Mecca in Medina, also marks a major change : from then on, believers will pray in the direction of this new sacred place and no longer in the direction of Jerusalem.
Alexander’s death marks the loss of the greatest conquerors in History, the only man who managed to extend the Empire to Eurasia, the Mediterranean and India. Different versions of The Romance of Alexander were found in the Persian, Arabian and Latin regions of the world, but also in Mali.
1492 was officially the year the Americas were 'discovered', marking the end of the Middle Ages. Yet it's possible that Christopher Columbus setting foot on a West Indian beach in October obscures a far more complex story.
Because of its abstract nature, one tends to forget that the Tennis Court Oath was the key tipping point of the French Revolution, both from a symbolic and legal standpoint. On June 20, 1789, the deputies of the Third Estate, gathered in the hall of the Jeu de Paume at Versailles, swore together not to separate before having written a constitution to France. What happened that day at Versailles? Who are these men who made the people the sovereign of the French nation?
“I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people” : those are the first words pronounced by Nelson Mandela after his release from prison, after 27 years of incarceration. The event struck a chord worldwide, reminding us that South Africa, historically, was not only the first country to be colonised but also the last country to be decolonised.
The catastrophe led to a vast interdisciplinary project : volcanology reveals the force of the eruption, archeology and the study of texts uncover new objects of daily life found in the remains of buildings and roadways, including graffiti on the walls… The eruption of the Vesuvio froze the town of Pompei forever. But can one be sure that all of these discoveries date back to the eruption?
As opposed to the official discourse, the United States viewed the Hiroshima operation as a large-scale scientific experiment to force the Japanese to capitulate and avoid a Russian invasion of Japan. The first mass bombing of the History: maybe 70.000 sustained fatal injuries.
Did the first outbreaks occur in China or in the Caspian Sea ? Experts still argue. But how did the plague actually spread ? After many controversies, it seems that the rat flea was the major carrier of this disease.
The fascinating discovery of Angkor’s ruins conveys images of magnificence and splendour : we’d like to believe in the idea of a lost civilisation, as was the case for the Roman Empire. Yet, the study of the ruins of these monumental temples gives no sign of any brutal disappearance : monumental inscriptions.
2025
May 1st, far more than just "Labor Day," has its roots in workers' struggles that began in Paris in 1889. Its symbols, such as the red triangle, representing the equal distribution of time in a day, or the hawthorn, with its more tragic connotations, are emblems of a dream of emancipation but also of disillusionment. Even today, its message resonates in the streets around the world.
In 212 AD, the imperial law known as the Edict of Caracalla extended Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Empire. It is a fundamental law of the late Roman Empire, establishing the core principles of identity and citizenship. What does this event reveal about 3rd-century Rome? With Audrey Bertrand.
Frankenstein's creature, born from Mary Shelley's imagination during the summer of 1816 on the shores of Lake Geneva, embodies our fear of uncontrolled scientific progress leading to the dehumanization of the world and of life. How can a founding myth of modernity remain relevant?
On August 13, 1521, Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire, fell to Hernán Cortés after a months-long siege. With its conquest, the Spanish conquistador not only conquered one of the world's largest cities, but also the spiritual center of a highly developed civilization. The conquest is not only part of Mexican history, but also of Europe's colonial conscience.
When Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia denounced the Italian invasion of his country before the League of Nations General Assembly on June 30, 1936, he called upon nations to uphold their obligations under international law. However, the silence of the major powers turned the Ethiopian crisis into a scene of political capitulation.
The collapse of the financial system designed by the Scotsman John Law to pay off Louis XIV's enormous debts is considered the first major stock market crash in European history. But what makes this moment so significant? Is it the failure of the paper money bank – or the deeper insight it provides into the power and debt regime of the French monarchy?
On October 14, 1066, the political order of northwestern Europe was redrawn at Hastings: William, Duke of Normandy, defeated the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson in a costly battle. Two months later, he was crowned King of England in Westminster. The famous Bayeux Tapestry documents the victory and the end of the Viking Age.
When the Abbot of Cluny traveled to Spain in 1143 to commission a Latin translation of the Quran, he was not seeking dialogue, but rather to understand Islam in order to better combat it. The story of this first translation tells of encounter and resistance – far removed from the narratives of the "clash of civilizations" and Andalusian coexistence.
The flood is the most widely shared origin myth in human history. It marks a turning point in human history and divides time in two. Archaeological discoveries, such as those of George Smith in the 19th century, have revealed accounts older than the Bible. A brief exercise in comparative mythology.
On October 24, 1648, the treaties ending the Thirty Years' War were signed in Münster. The Peace of Westphalia established the principles of state sovereignty and religious freedom and is considered the foundation of a new international order. How do wars end? Are we experiencing a crisis of the Westphalian system today?
The mystic Marguerite Porete was burned at the stake in Paris in 1310. She had written a book that the Church considered heretical. Against the backdrop of the trials of heretics and political opponents under Philip the Fair, the question arises: Was Marguerite Porete's gruesome death a harbinger of the later witch hunts?
January 1, 1804, marks the end of slavery in Saint-Domingue, which became Haiti, thus separating its history from its colonial power, France. It is not only the result of a national liberation war, but also leads to the founding of the first state on the American continent founded by former slaves. This is a truly significant event, not only in American and French history, but also in world history. However, the price of freedom was exorbitant, and the country is still paying it today.
In the year 800, on Christmas Day, Charlemagne was crowned emperor in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome by Pope Leo III – an act that, in history books, marks the rebirth of the Western Roman Empire. But behind this solemn moment lies a complex interplay of power, religion, and political symbolism.
On September 24, 1877, the Imperial Japanese Army defeated the last samurai who had revolted against the forced modernization desired by Emperor Meiji. The portrayal of the battle and its protagonists is often reduced to an opposition between an archaic Japan and Western modernity. However, the story is much more complex.
In 221 BC, the king of Qin, a small state on the western edge of China, defeated the Warring States period and unified the Chinese Empire. Tradition has made this first emperor the founder of a political system that presents itself as immutable. But when did this date come into being? Since when has 221 BC been considered the year zero of imperial China?
Patrick Boucheron
Self
