The Siècle history podcast (@TheSiecle) / X

The Siècle history podcast

5,929 posts

The Siècle history podcast

@TheSiecle

A history podcast by @dhmontgomery covering France's overlooked century between Napoleon & World War I. Annotated transcripts online! @streamevergreen partner.

France, 1830

Joined December 2017

Pinned
The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Feb 9, 2025
Listening to @TheSiecle yet? Per listener reviews: - "well-researched & incredibly in-depth" - "thoughtful, clearly constructed scripts" - "both amiable & authoritative" - "the opening music slaps" Links here! I suggest starting with Episode 1: thesiecle.com/start/
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The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Nov 9, 2024
Oh hey, something I can weigh in on! The portraits of Louis XVIII and Charles X here are formal portraits of them in their *coronation robes*. This is *not* how they dressed on the regular. It matters what they wore for official portraits like this, of course. 1/
derek guy
@dieworkwear
Nov 8, 2024
Replying to @dieworkwear
Just look at the list of French rulers during this period. — 1643 - 1715: Louis XIV. Look at his little red heels! — 1814 - 1824: Louis XVIII. Little flower on his foot. — 1824 - 1830: Charles X. Gauzy, doily like decoration around his neck. — 1844 - 1883: Henry V. 😭
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The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Nov 9, 2024
Replying to @TheSiecle
3/ Here's a detail from another portrait Louis XVIII had commissioned from the same painter as his coronation* portrait, François Gérard. Here, he's sitting at his desk with the (modern) constitution he issued, wearing a (modern) uniform:
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The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Nov 9, 2024
Replying to @TheSiecle
2/ But Louis and Charles were in an in-between situation — they wanted to signal connection to their Bourbon forebears (hence fancy coronation robes), but also that they were hip and modern. So they wore frock coats and military-style uniforms, too.
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The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Nov 9, 2024
Replying to @TheSiecle
4/ In the Bourbon Restoration, when Louis XVIII and Charles X ruled, the "habit habillé" or fancy embroidered coat typical of Ancien Régime courts (pictured) was "feared like a poison cup," Louis'x biographer Philip Mansel writes in his history of court dress, "Dressed To Rule."
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The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Nov 9, 2024
Replying to @TheSiecle
3a/ I added an asterisk above because Louis XVIII never actually had a coronation. He did have a painting made of him in coronation robes, however, despite not actually having had the ceremony.
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The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Nov 9, 2024
Replying to @TheSiecle
5/ Under the Restoration, even "royalist court officials and émigrés needed military uniforms." Mansel: "Every official, the sovereign himself, a Conseiller de Préfecture, a Polytechnicien, and even a Député now wore a uniform." The ultraroyalist Charles X in dress uniform:
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The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Nov 9, 2024
Replying to @TheSiecle
7/ Louis-Philippe, the more liberal king who succeeded Charles X, explicitly portrayed himself as bourgeois, wearing a suit, etc. There was a meaningful symbolic difference here, but the break was less drastic than the coronation-robe portraits would make you think.
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The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Nov 9, 2024
Replying to @TheSiecle
6/ These uniforms (sometimes gaudy, but definitely newfangled at the time) were for official business. "When they were off duty, however, or if they did not have an official post, every member of the elites wore the dark (usually black) frock-coat."
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The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Nov 9, 2024
Replying to @TheSiecle
8/ For more about the Bourbon Restoration and France's overlooked years after Napoleon, that's what this podcast is all about! I've also got full annotated transcripts if you'd rather read. Get started here: thesiecle.com/start/
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The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Sep 11, 2020
Helping with research.
The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Mar 25, 2023
I host The Siècle, a history podcast telling the overlooked story of France AFTER Napoleon. It’s pretty good! thesiecle.com I am *also* currently fostering kittens! SO HERE’S THE DEAL: for every RT this post gets, I’ll share 1 kitten pic and 1 French history fact!
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The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
May 18, 2021
I want your nominations: what are the most important 25- to 35-year periods in world history? For example, good nominees might be “1914-1945” or “1789-1815."
The Siècle history podcast
@TheSiecle
Oct 21, 2022
In 1818, the French government was trying to pass a big military reform law through a closely divided Chamber of Peers. King Louis XVIII invited a few opposition Peers to join him for his daily carriage ride, a great honor — except the king just kept riding until after the vote.