It is a magnificent and landmark book. In 480 pages, Pierre Allorant and Gaël Rideau, teachers at the University of Orléans, tell everything about the History of Orléans, from Antiquity to the Modern Age. The result is a well-documented book, which brings together the writings of specialists by period and is embellished with “little-known illustrations, treasures hidden at the bottom of the reserves of national or municipal libraries, museums and archive centers, both in Orléans than in Paris”, warn the authors in the introduction who, contrary to the chronological development of the book, approach the history of the city by theme.
“We wanted a book for the general public, the general curious public, but which could also be a reference work for students and teachers of all levels […]. This is not a book that you read in one sitting but which you can delve into according to your interests. We have also decided to propose three indexes: a first of personal names, a second of place names, and a third on notions, the index, certainly the most subjective, but which may interest students and researchers », Points out Pierre Allorant.
From Julius Caesar to the Loire Metropolis
Divided into five parts, History of Orléans travels through time, from the period of Caesar to Attila to that of the Balzacian prefecture and the Loire Metropolis. Between the two, the authors are interested in the Middle Ages, where Orléans asserted itself as a royal city; in the modern era, commercial apogee, political center and city in tension; then at the time of revolutions. Above all, the authors approached “history from below, that of ordinary people and not only that of elites and political history” to tell the history of the city and its immediate neighbors.
“As is often the case, this project was born from a conversation between colleagues. The observation that we made with my colleague Gaël Rideau, professor of modern history, is that the last synthesis on the history of Orléans dated from the 1980s, a series in three volumes by Jacques Debal. This new work made it possible to integrate more recent work, such as the theses on the history of Orléans, defended in Orléans, Paris or Tours. This is the case of the work of Alexis Lecoq, a history student at the University of Orléans, whose master's thesis on the daily life of the people of Orléans in 1940 has been published and now enriches the chapter on the regional capital. in the 20th century (1940-2021). »
It also made it possible to insert new discoveries, to put the texts into perspective in the light of scientific advances and, thus, “to renew the image and view of the city”.
-The work was also born from the widespread idea that Orléans “is a city without history where nothing ever happens,” continues Pierre Allorant. “I was struck, at the time of the fiftieth anniversary of the Orléans rumor, in 2019, that Edgar Morin began the book he devoted to the subject with “Orléans, a quiet town, where nothing ever happens nothing”, even though he was talking about this rumor! Another example of this paradox, the events of May 68 in Orléans where, contrary to what we think, lots of things happened on the campus, including the arrival of a far-right commando disembarked from Paris! Why does Orléans have the image of a city that doesn't really have a history, of a consensual city, where everyone always agrees? , continues the academic.
With Orléanais Pierre Serna,
best specialist on the French Revolution
To reestablish the truth, Pierre Allorant and Gaël Rideau surrounded themselves with six main authors. We thus note the collaboration of Pierre Serna from Orléans, “professor at the Sorbonne and best specialist in the history of the French Revolution who shows that Orléans played a fundamental role in this period”. This is also the whole point of the book, finally notes Pierre Allorant: “Orléans has often had a very important position, political, military or commercial, in the history of France”.
Treasures hidden in the archives
The authors underline “the enormous research work on the illustrations, carried out primarily by the Departmental Archives, but also the Municipal Archives and the Orléans Museum of Fine Arts”. This particularly concerns advertising posters, whether for a 19th century perfume or for the Olivet racecourse. “But we also had access to documents from private collections, in particular numerous photographs and notes relating to the Great War and sporting practice in the Loiret, from Maurice Béraud, former teacher of the Popular Front, born in Montargis, and who ended his career at the Aydes school in Orléans.
Documents can be found on www.archives-loiret.fr
