The third Etienne Baluze Prize for European local history, founded by the Association des Amis du Musée du Cloître André Mazeyrie of Tulle, will be awarded on 18 January 2013.
For Etienne Baluze (1630-1718), Professor of Canon Law at the Collège de France and librarian to Jean-Baptist Colbert, the study of ecclesiastical and political institutions in the Middle Ages and the early-modern period formed an important part of his activities as a scholar. His inquiries were focused not merely on the Roman Catholic Church and the states of Europe, but on local realities too. His initial researches as a young historian in the 1650s were devoted to the history of his native town, Tulle, and would continue until publication in 1717, shortly before his death. This work is far from being a conventional antiquarian study of a city which refuses to look beyond its limits. On the contrary, the book reveals itself -even today- as a meticulous investigation into the manner in which local political and juridical realities came into being; those realities which characterised much of medieval and early-modern France and no doubt the rest of Europe as well.
It is intended that the Etienne Baluze Prize will reflect this methodological approach with its emphasis on broad themes and open-ended problematics. The local scale has all too often been used to emphasise particularities and uniqueness, yet here it is considered to be one of the essential paths for an understanding of the historical processes which issued in the construction of the European space. The local scale enriches our understanding through its capacity to reveal both deep affinities and fundamental diversities rooted in specific contexts.
The Etienne Baluze Prize is open to individuals working in any historiographical tradition. It will be awarded for work which makes an important contribution to our knowledge and understanding of the processes leading to the constitution of European space, including its most recent configurations.
Unpublished doctoral theses dealing with the European space between the 14th and the 21st centuries, will qualify for consideration. Only theses examined since 2010 are eligible. Languages accepted are English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Applicants must submit an abstract of their work, on paper and electronically (2-5 pages together with a table of contents), no later than 4 November 2012 to the address below. Short-listed candidates will be required to submit a complete copy of their work by 26 November 2012.
The prize winner will receive a bust of Etienne Baluze, sculpted by the contemporary artist Nacera Kainou, and the sum of 1500 euros.
The jury members are Jean Boutier (EHESS, Marseille), Alain Dewerpe (EHESS, Paris), Peter Jones (University of Birmingham, United Kingdom), Bartolome Yun Casalilla (University de Séville, Spain ; European University Institute, Florence, Italy), Marcello Verga (University of Florence, Italy) and Jakob Vogel (Institut d’Études Politiques, Paris).
The jury will be presided by Daniel Roche, Professor, Collège de France.
Prize Executive :
Jean Boutier
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
Centre de la Charité
2 rue de la Charité
13002 Marseille
Email: jean.boutier@univ-amu.fr
tél. : 00/33/ (0)4 91 14 07 83
