Nicole Archambeau, “War, Plague & Confession: Stories of Survival from Fourteenth-Century Provence”

The History Department is proud to welcome back alumna Dr. Nicole Archambeau (History, Colorado State University) for a virtual talk based on her new book Souls under Siege: Stories of War, Plague, and Confession in Fourteenth-Century Provence. You can read a glowing review of Souls under Siege in the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Dr. Archambeau’s book and talk draw on a rich evidentiary base of 68 narrative testimonials from the canonization inquest for Countess Delphine de Puimichel, which was held in the market town of Apt in 1363. Each witness in the inquest had lived through outbreaks of plague in 1348 and 1361, as well as violence inflicted by mercenaries unemployed during truces in the Hundred Years’ War. Faced with an unprecedented cascade of crises, the inhabitants of Provence relied on saints and healers, their worldview connecting earthly disease and disaster to the struggle for their eternal souls. Their testimonies unexpectedly reveal the importance of faith and the role of affect in the healing of both body and soul.

Advance registration is required for this event. You can sign up here.

Click here to download the flyer for Dr. Archambeau’s talk.