Christian Renoux is a French historian and an activist for nonviolence.

Education and teaching

Born in 1960, he is alumnus of the École normale supérieure de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud (1982), agrégé in History (1984), alumnus of the

École française de Rome The École française de Rome (EFR) is a French research institute for history, archaeology, and the social sciences; overseen by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, and a division of the Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et ...

, the French Historical Institute of Rome (1992-1995), doctor in Early modern History of the

Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (french: Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, links=yes), also known as Paris 1 or Panthéon-Sorbonne University, is a public research university located in Paris, France. It was created in 1971 from ...

(1996) and graduated in Catholic theology from the

Marc Bloch University The University Marc Bloch, also known as Strasbourg II or UMB was a university in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. As of 2006, it had around 13,000 students. Its name used to be ''Université des Sciences Humaines'' (University of Social Sciences), but i ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. Since 1998, he has been associate professor of Early modern History at the

University of Orléans The University of Orléans (french: Université d'Orléans) is a French university, in the Academy of Orléans and Tours. As of July 2015 it is a member of the regional university association Leonardo da Vinci consolidated University. History ...

(France), where is also teaching the History of Religions and the History of Nonviolence.

Research

His research work is about the history of

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

and of

sainthood In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...

in the Early Modern Times and about the history of Female Mystics in the 17th century. He is also interested in the history of demoniacal possession in the same period. He published an history of the Peace Prayer attributed to saint

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

("Lord, make me an instrument of your peace"), in which he demonstrated that this text, well known as the

Prayer of Saint Francis The anonymous text that is usually called the Prayer of Saint Francis (or Peace Prayer, or Simple Prayer for Peace, or Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace) is a widely known Christian prayer for peace. Often associated with the Italian Saint Fr ...

and become in half a century one of the most famous worldwide prayers, appeared, anonymously, in 1912, in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and has been wrongly attributed to saint Francis around 1925.

Commitments for peace and nonviolence

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

, he served during his obligatory civilian service (1985–87) at the ''Cahiers de la Réconciliation'', magazine of the MIR, French branch of the

International Fellowship of Reconciliation The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1914 in response to the horrors of war in Europe. Today IFOR counts 71 branches, groups and affiliates in 48 countries on all continents. IFOR me ...

(

IFOR The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''. Background NATO ...

). He was editor of this magazine from 1987 to 2006. He has been member of MIR France national committee since 1987 and was MIR France co-president from 1994 to 2004. He was member of

Steering Committee from 1996 to 2000. He is one of its representatives at

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

and its treasurer (since 2018). Since November 2000, he has been the MIR France representative to the National Committee and president of the French Coalition for the Decade for the Culture of Peace and Nonviolence (2001–10), which became in April 2011 the Coalition for the Education for Nonviolence and Peace. Since June 2003, he has been the representative of the French Coalition to the International Committee and president of the

International Coalition for the Decade On 10 November 1998, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the first decade of the 21st century and the third millennium, the years 2001 to 2010, as the International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the ...

for the Culture of Peace and Nonviolence (2001–10), which became in April 2011 the International Network for the Culture of Peace and Nonviolence.

Book

* Christian Renoux, ''La prière pour la paix attribuée à saint François: une énigme à résoudre'', Paris, Éditions franciscaines, 2001, 210 p. * Christian Renoux, ''La preghiera per la pace attribuita a san Francesco. Un enigma da risolvere'', Padoue, Edizioni Messagero Padova (EMP), 2003, Collana: Memoria e profezia, 180 p.
Book's abstract: "The Origin of the Peace Prayer of St. Francis"

Book's review
* Jean-Patrice Boudet, Philippe Faure et Christian Renoux, ''De Socrate à Tintin. Anges gardiens et démons familiers de l’Antiquité à nos jours'', Rennes, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2011, 330 p. * Coordination pour l'éducation à la non-violence et à la paix, Vincent Roussel irand Christian Renoux oreword ''100 questions-réponses pour éduquer à la non-violence'', Lyon, Chronique sociale, 2011, 231 p. * Philippe Castagnetti, Christian Renoux ir. ''Culture et société au miroir des procès de canonisation (XVI^e-XX^e siècle)'', Saint-Etienne, Presses universitaires de Saint-Etienne, 2016, 194 p. * Aude Bonord, Christian Renoux ir. ''François d'Assise, un poète dans la cité. Variations franciscaines en France (XIX^e-XX^e siècles'', Paris, Classique Garnier, 2019, 243 p

* Philippe Castagnetti, Christian Renoux ir. ''Sources hagiographiques et procès de canonisation. Les circulations textuelles autour du culte des saints, XVI^e-XX^e siècle'', Paris, Classique Garnier, 2022, 418 p

Articles on line

« Une source de l'histoire de la mystique moderne revisitée : les procès de canonisation »
in '' Mélanges de l'École française de Rome''. Italie et Méditerranée'', 1993, vol. 105, n° 105-1, p. 177–217.
« Discerner la sainteté des mystiques. Quelques exemples italiens de l'âge baroque », in ''Rives nord-méditerranéennes'', n° 3, 1999, p. 19–28.

« Madame Acarie lit Thérèse d'Avila », October 2001.« Freud et l'affaire Haizmann », in ''Psychoanalytische Perspectieven'', 2002, t. 20, 2, p. 309–325.

« Cultivons la paix », interview for the Secours Catholique / Caritas France, June 2004.

* ttp://www.humanite.presse.fr/popup_print.php3?id_article=830817 « La paix, invitée de La Villette », interview for ''L'Humanité'', June 1 2006.

Interview on line

« Peut-on éduquer à la paix ? », documentary – 2006 – 26 mn. The television program ''Question d'Église'' from ''Jour du Seigneur'' on French national Channel France 2, presents the second International Salon for Peace Initiatives, which took place in Paris in June 2006 (13,000 participants)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renoux, Christian Lycée Lakanal alumni ENS Fontenay-Saint-Cloud-Lyon alumni 20th-century French historians Nonviolence advocates Living people French male non-fiction writers 1960 births 21st-century French historians French historians of religion