Early Modern Paris

Tour of Paris in the Early Modern Era (1500-1789)

Background Material to Prepare for Your Part of the Tour

Background Readings

Chronology of Developments in Early Modern Paris

The Recreation of Paris in the 17th and 18th Centuries (Joan DeJean, How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City (New York: Bloomsbury,2014), pp.6-7)

The Beginning of Central Planning in Paris ((Joan DeJean, How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City (New York: Bloomsbury,2014), pp.9-11.

A: Pont Neuf

We will be beginning our tour at a small part at the Square du Vert Gallant at the point of the Île de la Cité, the island at the center of Paris. The small park is named for King Henri IV, whose many mistresses earned for him the title the "Green Galant" or "Green Seducer." Above the park is a statue of Henri and the Pont Neuf.

Sources:

The Creation of the Pont Neuf [Joan DeJean, How Paris Became Paris, pp.15, 21-22, 24.]

Social Classes Meet on the Pont Neuf [DeJean, How Paris Became Paris, pp. 26-30.]

Traffic on the Pont Neuf [How Paris Became Paris, pp.30-234.]

There was more interesting material about the Pont Neuf than you will probably be able to assimilate. But I am including the readings below in case you want a little more.

Politics, Culture, and Commerce on the Pont Neuf [DeJean, How Paris Became Paris, pp.26-30.]

Henri IV and the Pont Neuf [Joan DeJean, How Paris Became Paris, p.23 and James H.S. McGregor, Paris from the Ground Up (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2009, pp.166-167.]

Between C (Square René Viviani) and D (the ancient Roman Baths)

We will be wandering through the streets of the Quartier Latin (The Latin Quarter). The team covering the Middle Ages will probably be talking about the streets in the earlier period, but you may want to add something about how the streets of Paris began to change in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Sources:

Moving about Early Modern Paris [Joan DeJean, How Paris Became Paris, pp.14-15]

G: Île Saint-Louis

We will be crossing back over the Seine to the second of the existing islands at the heart of the city. This would provide an occasion for you to discuss the creation of this section of Paris

Sources:

The Creation of the Île Saint-Louis [Joan DeJean, How Paris Became Paris, pp.62-64

A New Kind of Urban Space [Joan DeJean, How Paris Became Paris, pp.66-68, 71-72, 76.

I: The Place de Vosges

The Creation of Public Space [Joan DeJean, How Paris Became Paris]
Central Planning [Joan DeJean, How Paris Became Paris]
The Uses of Public Space [Joan DeJean, How Paris Became Paris]

Animation of Paris Across the Centuries

Click here for an presentation of the development of Paris. Animators have imagined what Parislooked like at various periods and created a 13-minute video that allows you to fly through the city in each era. It was, of course, necessary to make guesses about what things must have looked like at various periods, but it is fascinating to get a general idea of how the city has changed visually over more than 2000 years. Only the section that begins with views of the Louvre in 1650 about 8:44 in the videos is specifically relevant to the period that you are focusing on , but you may also want to look at the entire video to see how the city changed over more than 2000 years.