Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie - Political History

Political History

Through best known for his work in "microhistory", Le Roy Ladurie has also examined the political history of France between 1460 and 1774. One of his best-known book on political history was L'Etat royal: de Louis XI à Henri IV, 1460-1610 (translated into English as The French Royal State: 1460-1610). In this book, Le Roy Ladurie argued that the major concerns of the French Crown were the economy, the Reformation and aristocratic politics, and that the major reasons for the growth of the French state was military expansion into Italy, Provence and Burgundy and its rivalry with Spain.

In a sequel, Ancien Régime: de Louis XIII à Louis XV, 1610-1774 (translated into English as The Ancien Régime), Le Roy Ladurie argued that there was a close connection between the domestic and foreign policies of the French Crown. In particular, he argued that periods of authoritarianism in domestic policy coincided with periods of aggression in foreign policy, and that periods of liberalism in domestic policy coincided with periods of peace in foreign policy. Despite certain lapses in the 1750s, Le Roy Ladurie argued that the reign of Louis XV was characterized by liberalism at home and peace abroad, while the rule of Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV was marked by aggression and authoritariansim. At the end of his two-volume history, Le Roy Ladurie stated that the growth of popularity of Enlightenment ideas, anti-clericalism, and liberalism had by 1774 already placed France on the road to the French Revolution.