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Langue et nationalité : sur la fortune d'une phrase d'Henri IV

Robert Beck and Denise Turrel

Abstracts

In 1601, when receiving the representatives of his new subjects from Bresse, Henry IV declared : "Since your natural language is French, it was reasonable that you should be the King of France's subjects". Quoted by the historiographer Pierre Matthieu in 1605, the statement was repeated by some historians in the Contemporary period, as the first expression of the doctrine of nationalities. However, other than such an interpretation transposing an element of nineteenth century nationalism to the Early Modern Period, the sovereign's statement, once re-examined in context, is part of a specific moment of history : that of the taking of oath of the Treaty of Lyons, of a warning to the Duke of Biron, and of the result of Pierre Matthieu' s personal itinerary. In 1601, when uttered, the statement referred less to the relationship between language and nationality than to the French Crown's will to maintain the unity of the realm.
When the quotation reappeared in the nineteenth century, linguistic unity was hardly considered a basis for national unity in France. Even before 1870, the natural boundaries were more likely to justify territorial expansion. After 1870, under the influence of Fustel de Coulanges and E. Renan, French nationalists even opposed the linguistic argument Germany had just used as a pretext to annex Alsace and Lorraine. However, the situation seems to have changed after 1918 and the reconquest of the lost provinces. Yet, in the seventeenth century as well as the nineteenth century, Henry IV's statement was perceived and used as occasional words.

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References

Electronic reference

Robert Beck and Denise Turrel, “Langue et nationalité : sur la fortune d'une phrase d'Henri IV”Cahiers d'histoire [Online], 46-2 | 2001, Online since , connection on 29 March 2024. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/ch/230; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/ch.230

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The text and other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.

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