The imprint of the five Bourbon kings – Henri IV, Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI – who presided over the destinies of France and their capital Paris from 1589 to 1789 is still largely visible in Paris today. Our lecture will be using the superb collections of the newly re-opened Musée Carnavalet and its period rooms to evoke the history of the city from the end of the Renaissance to the eve of the French Revolution. The great royal squares from place des Vosges to place de la Concorde, churches such as the Val de Grace and the Pantheon, the royal palaces of the Louvre and the Tuileries all date back to the Bourbon era and will be studied through original prints, paintings and documents in the collection of the museum.

Our second lecture will cover the period from the advent of Louis XV to the outbreak of the French Revolution (1715-1789) also known as the “Age of Enlightenment”.