The Siècle history podcast
@thesiecle.com
A history podcast by @dhmontgomery.com covering France's overlooked century between Napoleon and World War I. Annotated transcripts at thesiecle.com!
Henri V of France, the sole legitimate heir to France’s Bourbon dynasty, will return in Avengers: Doomsday (but he’s got some stipulations about the logo).
January 7, 2026 at 5:01 AM
Henri V of France, the sole legitimate heir to France’s Bourbon dynasty, will return in Avengers: Doomsday (but he’s got some stipulations about the logo).
Throwing this out for anyone who might be able to help!
I am trying to track down the woman mentioned in these documents, the memoirs of the Comte de Semallé (1772-1863), and in this 1829 report on former colonists from Saint-Domingue/Haiti.
Claims made about her in these sources (cont):
I am trying to track down the woman mentioned in these documents, the memoirs of the Comte de Semallé (1772-1863), and in this 1829 report on former colonists from Saint-Domingue/Haiti.
Claims made about her in these sources (cont):
December 20, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Throwing this out for anyone who might be able to help!
I am trying to track down the woman mentioned in these documents, the memoirs of the Comte de Semallé (1772-1863), and in this 1829 report on former colonists from Saint-Domingue/Haiti.
Claims made about her in these sources (cont):
I am trying to track down the woman mentioned in these documents, the memoirs of the Comte de Semallé (1772-1863), and in this 1829 report on former colonists from Saint-Domingue/Haiti.
Claims made about her in these sources (cont):
A teaser trailer for the next episode of The Siècle (featuring guest narration from @lafayettepodcast.com!):
December 17, 2025 at 10:24 PM
A teaser trailer for the next episode of The Siècle (featuring guest narration from @lafayettepodcast.com!):
Very grateful, when browsing the French history section at my local bookstore, to find a book that doesn’t make me read the back cover or inside flap to decide if I should buy it.
December 14, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Very grateful, when browsing the French history section at my local bookstore, to find a book that doesn’t make me read the back cover or inside flap to decide if I should buy it.
It's remarkable how many amazing resources there are for 19th Century French history, freely available online. (And one day, perhaps, a vintage copy on my shelves...)
December 13, 2025 at 4:29 AM
It's remarkable how many amazing resources there are for 19th Century French history, freely available online. (And one day, perhaps, a vintage copy on my shelves...)
Philipon got convicted anyway. Other cartoonists and journalists rallied behind him and sold prints of the pear caricature to pay his 6,000-franc fine. France's preeminent cartoonist of the time, Horace Daumier, made his own version to that end:
November 13, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Philipon got convicted anyway. Other cartoonists and journalists rallied behind him and sold prints of the pear caricature to pay his 6,000-franc fine. France's preeminent cartoonist of the time, Horace Daumier, made his own version to that end:
The original pear caricature was published in 1831 by Charles Philipon. It got him put on trial for insulting the king, where his defense was that Louis-Philippe so resembled a pear that an “artist could quite easily have drawn the parallel unintentionally." Then he drew it to demonstrate.
November 13, 2025 at 5:09 PM
The original pear caricature was published in 1831 by Charles Philipon. It got him put on trial for insulting the king, where his defense was that Louis-Philippe so resembled a pear that an “artist could quite easily have drawn the parallel unintentionally." Then he drew it to demonstrate.
King Louis-Philippe I was conscientious and hard-working. So it's a little unfortunate — but extremely funny — that the defining image of him became a caricature drawing his jowly face as a pear.
Find out more in my latest episode!
thesiecle.com/episode48/
Find out more in my latest episode!
thesiecle.com/episode48/
November 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
King Louis-Philippe I was conscientious and hard-working. So it's a little unfortunate — but extremely funny — that the defining image of him became a caricature drawing his jowly face as a pear.
Find out more in my latest episode!
thesiecle.com/episode48/
Find out more in my latest episode!
thesiecle.com/episode48/
NEW EPISODE: After the July Revolution of 1830, France has a new king. And Louis-Philippe wants everyone to know he's not like a regular king, he's a cool king.
thesiecle.com/episode48/
thesiecle.com/episode48/
November 13, 2025 at 4:14 PM
NEW EPISODE: After the July Revolution of 1830, France has a new king. And Louis-Philippe wants everyone to know he's not like a regular king, he's a cool king.
thesiecle.com/episode48/
thesiecle.com/episode48/
Pretty good haul for a neighborhood used bookstore!
November 7, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Pretty good haul for a neighborhood used bookstore!
I was sure at least one of these would be able to help me out here but they all seem to take for granted a baseline understanding of 19th Century British constitutional monarchy. Great, I have that too, but I’d like to *cite* something.
October 31, 2025 at 3:43 AM
I was sure at least one of these would be able to help me out here but they all seem to take for granted a baseline understanding of 19th Century British constitutional monarchy. Great, I have that too, but I’d like to *cite* something.
The Doctrinaire leader Pierre Paul Royer-Collard was once asked whether he had called his erstwhile disciple François Guizot an "austere intriguer."
"I did not say austere," Royer-Collard replied.
"I did not say austere," Royer-Collard replied.
October 13, 2025 at 8:39 PM
The Doctrinaire leader Pierre Paul Royer-Collard was once asked whether he had called his erstwhile disciple François Guizot an "austere intriguer."
"I did not say austere," Royer-Collard replied.
"I did not say austere," Royer-Collard replied.
It is that most glorious of days: *I* am off work, but the child’s day care is still open. So all day for writing!
October 13, 2025 at 4:53 PM
It is that most glorious of days: *I* am off work, but the child’s day care is still open. So all day for writing!
Good news, everyone! My new friend is about to make The Siècle "top ranking in its own category and top ranking in all the categories" and I'm going to be a top podcaster in the world and earn a lot of money.
October 10, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Good news, everyone! My new friend is about to make The Siècle "top ranking in its own category and top ranking in all the categories" and I'm going to be a top podcaster in the world and earn a lot of money.
Coming Monday morning to your feeds: this guy.
September 28, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Coming Monday morning to your feeds: this guy.
Doing a little background reading on 19th Century apparitions of the Virgin Mary, and it once again turns out to pay to stay up to date with @histphilosophy.bsky.social:
September 14, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Doing a little background reading on 19th Century apparitions of the Virgin Mary, and it once again turns out to pay to stay up to date with @histphilosophy.bsky.social:
Les Peuples Libres de la Terre du Milieu may be in trouble.
September 1, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Les Peuples Libres de la Terre du Milieu may be in trouble.
It's July 1830, and in France, it's time for The Purge.
Hear more in Episode 47: The July Settlement: thesiecle.com/episode47/
Hear more in Episode 47: The July Settlement: thesiecle.com/episode47/
August 16, 2025 at 1:56 PM
It's July 1830, and in France, it's time for The Purge.
Hear more in Episode 47: The July Settlement: thesiecle.com/episode47/
Hear more in Episode 47: The July Settlement: thesiecle.com/episode47/
The constitutional changes France adopted after the July Revolution are complicated — so I made a document showing exactly what was removed and added! It's embedded in Episode 47: thesiecle.com/episode47/
August 16, 2025 at 1:33 PM
The constitutional changes France adopted after the July Revolution are complicated — so I made a document showing exactly what was removed and added! It's embedded in Episode 47: thesiecle.com/episode47/
The deputies who want the Duc d'Orléans as France's new king have to grapple with the lack of popular enthusiasm for this. So Adolphe Thiers drafts a handbill extolling Orléans as "a prince devoted to the cause of the Revolution." It's soon plastered across Paris. #julyrevlive
July 30, 2025 at 1:00 AM
The deputies who want the Duc d'Orléans as France's new king have to grapple with the lack of popular enthusiasm for this. So Adolphe Thiers drafts a handbill extolling Orléans as "a prince devoted to the cause of the Revolution." It's soon plastered across Paris. #julyrevlive
At Saint-Cloud, Charles has appointed a new prime minister to replace Polignac — if he can persuade the guy to accept the job. The Duc de Mortemart is a moderate politician, but he's currently sick & cites this to try & decline Charles's appointment. But the king insists. #julyrevlive
July 29, 2025 at 9:30 PM
At Saint-Cloud, Charles has appointed a new prime minister to replace Polignac — if he can persuade the guy to accept the job. The Duc de Mortemart is a moderate politician, but he's currently sick & cites this to try & decline Charles's appointment. But the king insists. #julyrevlive
Some men in Paris want to replace Charles not with Orléans, but with Napoleon II — the great emperor's 19-year-old son. Unfortunately Napoleon II is a quasi-prisoner of Austria, and few people want to stick their neck out for an absentee emperor. #julyrevlive
July 29, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Some men in Paris want to replace Charles not with Orléans, but with Napoleon II — the great emperor's 19-year-old son. Unfortunately Napoleon II is a quasi-prisoner of Austria, and few people want to stick their neck out for an absentee emperor. #julyrevlive
Jacques Laffitte is convinced Charles has to go — and that the best replacement is Charles's more liberal cousin, the Duc d'Orléans. There's only one problem: No one knows if Orléans will become king. Laffitte asks in a message; but Orléans responds noncomittally. #julyrevlive
July 29, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Jacques Laffitte is convinced Charles has to go — and that the best replacement is Charles's more liberal cousin, the Duc d'Orléans. There's only one problem: No one knows if Orléans will become king. Laffitte asks in a message; but Orléans responds noncomittally. #julyrevlive
Most violently, groups of insurgents find pockets of Charles's soldiers who got left behind. Some fight their way out, some are allowed to surrender — and some are killed. #julyrevlive
July 29, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Most violently, groups of insurgents find pockets of Charles's soldiers who got left behind. Some fight their way out, some are allowed to surrender — and some are killed. #julyrevlive
Also pillaged is the palace of the Archbishop of Paris; the prelate's furniture, books, and paintings are hurled into the Seine and float slowly downstream. #julyrevlive
July 29, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Also pillaged is the palace of the Archbishop of Paris; the prelate's furniture, books, and paintings are hurled into the Seine and float slowly downstream. #julyrevlive