École Nationale des Chartes
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The École Nationale des Chartes (, literally National School of Charters) is a French ''
grande école A ''grande école'' () is a specialised university that is separate from, but parallel and often connected to, the main framework of the French public university system. The grandes écoles offer teaching, research and professional training in s ...
'' and a constituent college of Université PSL, specialising in the historical sciences. It was founded in 1821, and was located initially at the National Archives, and later at the Palais de la Sorbonne (5th arrondissement). In October 2014, it moved to 65
rue de Richelieu The Rue de Richelieu is a long street of Paris, starting in the south of the 1st arrondissement at the Comédie-Française and ending in the north of the 2nd arrondissement. For the first half of the 19th century, before Georges-Eugène Haussman ...
, opposite the Richelieu-Louvois site of the National Library of France. The school is administered by the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research. It holds the status of a '' grand établissement''. Its students, who are recruited by competitive examination and hold the status of trainee civil servant, receive the qualification of archivist-paleographer after completing a thesis. They generally go on to pursue careers as heritage curators in the archive and visual fields, as library curators or as lecturers and researchers in the human and social sciences. In 2005, the school also introduced
master's degrees A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
, for which students were recruited based on an application file, and, in 2011,
doctorates A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
.


History

The École des Chartes was created by order of
Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...
on 22 February 1821, although its roots are in the
Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
and the Napoleonic period. The Revolution, during which property was confiscated, congregations were suppressed and competencies were transferred from the Church to the State, produced radical cultural changes. In 1793 the feudist Antoine Maugard approached the public instruction committee of the Convention with a proposal for a project of historical and
diplomatic Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, p ...
education. The project was never carried out, and Maugard was largely forgotten. The institution was eventually created by the philologist and anthropologist Joseph Marie de Gérando, baron of the Empire and general secretary to Champagny, the Minister of the Interior. In 1807 he submitted a proposal to
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
for the creation of a school to train young scholars of history. Napoleon examined the proposal and declared that he wished to develop a much larger specialist history school. However, Gérando was posted to Italy on an administrative mission, and the project was interrupted. At the end of 1820, Gérando convinced Count Siméon, a philosopher and professor of law who had been state councilor under the Empire and who was at that time Minister of the Interior, of the usefulness of an institution modeled on the ''
grandes écoles Grandes may refer to: *Agustín Muñoz Grandes Agustín Muñoz Grandes (27 January 1896 – 11 July 1970) was a Spanish general, and politician, vice-president of the Spanish Government and minister with Francisco Franco several times; also know ...
'', dedicated to the study of "a branch of French literature", the charters. The 1820s were a favorable period for the creation of the École des Chartes. Firstly this was because the atmosphere of nostalgia for the Middle Ages created a desire to train specialists who would, by carrying out a direct study of archives and manuscripts confiscated during the Revolution, be able to renew French historiography. Secondly, the need was also felt to maintain this branch of study, which stemmed from Maurist tradition, since the field was endangered by a lack of knowledgeable collaborators in the "science of charters and manuscripts". And thirdly, during the reign of Louis XVIII, a period which saw the return of the Ultras and during which the constitutional monarchy was called into question, the political context influenced the creation of an institution whose name inevitably made explicit reference to the defense of the Charter. Under the order of 1821, twelve students were nominated by the Minister of the Interior, based on propositions by the
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...
, and they were paid during the two years of their studies. They principally studied
paleography Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...
and
philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...
, with a purely practical aim: to be able to read and understand the documents that they would be responsible for curating. The professors and students of the school were placed under the authority of the curator of medieval manuscripts of the Royal Library, rue de Richelieu, and of the general guard of the Archives of the Kingdom. This first experience was not very successful, mainly because no job openings were reserved for the students. The first course was implemented in two stages by the ministerial decree of 11 May (for the Royal Library course) and by the decree of 21 December 1821 (for the Archives of the Kingdom course) and was the only one run. The ''Académie'' did put forward a new list of candidates, and the course length was set at two years by the Order of 16 July 1823, but lessons had to be suspended on 19 December 1823 due to a lack of students. However, following a long period of inactivity, the Ministry of the Interior decided to re-open the school. Rives, the director of staff of the ministry, together with Dacier, drew up a report on the reorganization of the School and a draft order, proposed to
Charles X Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Lou ...
by La Bourdonnaye, which resulted in the order of 11 November 1829. The school was now open to anyone who had acquired the Baccalaureate, but six to eight students were selected by competitive examination at the end of the first year. They received a salary and followed two further years of training. On completion of their studies, they received the qualification of archivist-paleographer and were reserved half of the available jobs in libraries and archives. The first valedictorian was
Alexandre Teulet Alexandre Teulet (January 29, 1807- March 23, 1866) was a French Palaeographer, archivist, and historian. His full name was Jean Baptiste Alexandre Théodore Teulet. His father was General Raymond Teulet. After graduating from the École Natio ...
. The " Guizot period" benefited the École des Chartes, which soon became an important institution in the field of historical – particularly medieval – studies. On 24 March 1839 the Société de l’École des Chartes was founded by Louis Douët d'Arcq, among others, and it published the Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes, one of the oldest French scientific reviews, to disseminate the work carried out in the school. The Order of 31 December 1846 implemented a fundamental reorganization of the school and its study program, which then remained unchanged for more than a century. The students, who were holders of the Baccalaureate, were recruited by examination (which shortly afterwards became a competitive examination), and followed a three-year course of studies. Interdisciplinarity, an essential characteristic of the school, was then written into the reform, which required students to study six subjects, some of which were not taught anywhere else. The second innovation, a thesis, was introduced, with the first public defense being held in 1849. A surveillance council was set up, consisting of the guard of the Archives, the director of the Royal Library, the director of the School and five members of the
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...
. The school was finally provided with a new statute. It moved to the Kingdom Archives in the hôtel de Soubise, in the oval hall and adjacent rooms of the hôtel de Clisson. By now, the École des Chartes had become a point of reference in Europe. Its historical research methodology had been greatly modernized, as had its teaching methods, thanks to the copies of ancient documents to which it had access. The students were taught paleography, sigillography, numismatics, philology, filing for archives and libraries, historical geography, currencies, systems of weights and measures, the history of political institutions in France, archeology, civil law, canonic law and feudal law. The teaching had both a scientific and a professional aim. Thus, by gradually being integrated into the network of royal then national and departmental archive services, the graduates of the school contributed to the strengthening of the network and to the improvement of archival principles. A pathway for the graduates was thus established in the archives, first implemented by the Order of 31 December 1846, then reinforced by a legislative framework providing them with a means to enforce this law. The decree of 4 February 1850 reserved the posts of departmental archivist to those holding the qualification of archivist-paleographer, while all the positions at the National Archives (except that of senior civil servant) were reserved for them by the decree of 14 May 1887. The same could not be said of libraries. The order of 1839 was never applied, and although the order of 1839 reserved places at the Royal Library for École des Chartes graduates, fewer than 7% of them worked in a library in 1867. It was not until the end of the Second Empire, partly thanks to the work of
Léopold Delisle Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist ...
, the general administrator of the national library, that the qualifications of the school's graduates were recognized by libraries. Little by little, decrees and orders facilitated their access to jobs in libraries. The school moved in 1866 into more suitable premises in the hôtel de Breteuil, rue des Francs-Bourgeois, without this move having much effect on the teaching. Seven professorships were instituted by the decree of 30 January 1869: paleography; Latin languages; bibliography; filing for libraries and archives; diplomacy; political, administrative and judiciary institutions in France; civil and canonic law of the Middle Ages and archeology of the Middle Ages. Apart from minor modifications, these remained unchanged until 1955. The school moved once again in 1897, to 19 rue de la Sorbonne, into the premises originally intended for the Paris Faculté de théologie catholique. This move brought the school geographically closer to the other research and teaching institutions based at the Sorbonne, such as the Faculté de lettres and the École pratique des hautes études. The school had a classroom, with windows along both sides and special deep desks for paleography practice, as well as a library, in which books were available for immediate access. Although the premises have been refurbished, the school is still located here today. During the 1920s, a number of moves to other premises were proposed, with suggestions including the hôtel de Rohan in 1924, the garden of the Institution for Deaf-Mutes (suggested by Michel Roux-Spitz), a plot on rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, a house on rue de Vaugirard, the former Polytechnic School, and the refectory of the Bernardins. The school will move in 2015 to the Richelieu area, into new premises at 65 rue de Richelieu and 12 rue des Petits-Champs. The school was also a founding member of the Campus Condorcet, and for this reason, some of its research activities were conducted at the Aubervilliers campus. The image of the École des Chartes, in political and social terms, was firmly anchored, even though it has sometimes been classified as a right-wing institution. The image of the "right-wing chartiste" originated in the figure of the "amateur", the son of a well-off family, passing through the school to kill time elegantly, or to "wait", in the words of Robert Martin du Gard, who graduated from the school in 1905. In fact, throughout the 19th century there was a discontinuity between the high-prestige training offered by the École des Chartes and the lower-prestige, modestly remunerated jobs open to graduates. However, this reputation was at least partly unfounded, as demonstrated by several cases. At the time of the
Dreyfus Affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...
, for example, the milieu of the École des Chartes mirrored the divisions in French society: "Nowhere were civic quarrels more completely invested in the job of historian." The few chartistes who were called upon as experts during the Zola trial – Arthur Giry,
Auguste Molinier Auguste Molinier (30 September 185119 May 1904) was a French historian. Biography Born in Toulouse, Auguste Molinier was a student at the École Nationale des Chartes, which he left in 1873, and also at the École pratique des hautes études; an ...
, Paul Meyer, Paul Viollet and
Gaston Paris Bruno Paulin Gaston Paris (; 9 August 1839 – 5 March 1903) was a French literary historian, philologist, and scholar specialized in Romance studies and medieval French literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901, 19 ...
– and those who were involved in the founding of the League of Human Rights were attacked by other archivist-paleographers, including Robert de Lasteyrie,
Gabriel Hanotaux Albert Auguste Gabriel Hanotaux, known as Gabriel Hanotaux (19 November 1853 – 11 April 1944) was a French statesman and historian. Biography He was born at Beaurevoir in the ''département'' of Aisne. He studied history at the École des Cha ...
and Émile Couard, as well as by their students at the École des Chartes. The variety of engagements at the time of the Dreyfus Affair did not necessarily reflect the political sensitivities of those involved, and their motives were political as well as professional, jeopardizing the very training and methods of the school. Although it was conservative to some extent, the school admitted a female student, Geneviève Acloque, in 1906, long before the other ''grandes écoles'' had started admitting women. The École des Chartes may have been perceived as a bastion of the French Action during the interwar period, although several relatively prominent alumni, such as Georges Bataille or Roger Martin du Gard, seem to have been more left-leaning. During the Second World War, there were therefore more École des Chartes students and teachers on the side of the Resistance than on the side of Vichy. Bertrand Joly concludes that the school was largely neutral, in that each "wing" seems to have been equally represented, a neutrality that was also justified by the fact that the school was not big enough for its members to have a significant effect on national politics. The entrance examination and internal examinations of the École des Chartes were reformed at the beginning of the 1930s. At this time, the school began offering the qualification of diplôme technique de bibliothécaire (DTB) 34, which was required to obtain a job as a librarian in first-category municipal libraries or
university libraries A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...
. The school opened its classes on the history of books and
bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...
to external students preparing for the qualification. This practice continued until 1950, when the ''diplôme supérieur de bibliothécaire'' (DSB) replaced the DTB as the qualification for librarians. The mid-20th century was a difficult period for the school as it struggled to modernize. Its student numbers dropped sharply (there were only 11 archivist-paleographers in the class of 1959). Its training was considered to be outdated and lacking in the latest approaches to history, notably the historiographic revival of the Annales School. It was not until the 1990s, when the entrance examination and teaching were reformed and a new policy was introduced, that the school really saw a revival. It entered a period of development under the direction of Yves-Marie Bercé (1992–2001) and Anita Guerreau-Jalabert (2001–2006). The current development of the school is based on solid training in new technologies and their application to the conservation of cultural heritage, and closer, more structured links with French universities and similar institutions in other European countries. The teaching has also been restructured to be better suited to the current demands of scientific research and evolution in conservation jobs. This approach will be introduced gradually as of the academic year 2014–15. Since the current director, Jean-Michel Leniaud, took up his post in 2011, the school has once more reformed its entrance examination to focus student recruitment on the specifics of the training, while also expanding the training to a broader field of human and social sciences, adapting it to the European context and recruitment conditions within conservation organizations. The range of subjects taught, which was expanded in the 1990s to include the history of art, now also includes archeology, the history of contemporary law, and history of property law. The course has been extended from three years to three years and nine months, aligning training in fundamental scientific techniques with empowerment in conservation jobs. In no other social and human sciences institution is the study of history, philology and law integrated to this extent into the conservation of archives, books monuments and works of art, be they inventories, historic monuments or museums. As well as improving the recruitment process and upgrading the training of future archivist-paleographers, the school has introduced specialized Master's programs focusing on digital technologies adapted to the humanities. It has recently introduced a continuing training service that takes into account the ''validation des acquis de l'expérience (VAE)'' (a certification accrediting work experience). The school's collaboration with the Établissement Public de Coopération Scientific (Campus Condorcet Paris-Aubervilliers), the ComUE heSam University and the Sorbonne Universities demonstrates the new directions that it has taken in recent years. To this end, it has modernized its administration, implemented ambitious communications programs and established a new campus opposite the National Library on rue de Richelieu. It is thus preparing to fulfill as effectively as possible the public service role assigned to it by the government.


Missions

The École nationale des Chartes is regulated by the statute of 27 January 1984, modified by statute no. 2013-660 of 22 July 2013 which relates to higher education and research. Article 3 of decree no. 87-832 of 8 October 1897 modified by decree no. 2005-1751 of 30 December 2005 defines the missions of the school as follows:


Organization

The governing bodies are composed of the director of the School, the administrative council and the scientific council. The director is selected from among the directors of studies of the
École pratique des hautes études The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...
, the École nationale des Chartes and the École française d'Extrême-Orient, or from among professors of the universities and members of affiliated institutions. The director is appointed by decree of the President of the Republic for a term of five years, renewable once under the conditions of the article. The director is assisted by a director of studies and a general director of services. The administrative council, consists of 21 members, including four unelected members, ten members appointed by the minister responsible for higher education, two of whom are members of the Institute, and seven elected members, three of whom are teachers, two of whom are IATOS (non-teaching staff) and two of whom are students. The scientific council37, headed by the director of the School, includes all the teachers who are directors of studies, as well as other unelected members. It also includes fifteen appointed members, five of whom are members of the Institute, as well as an elected teacher and a student representative. The Paris URFIST (an inter-academic research and training body) and the Committee of Historical and Scientific Work are affiliated with the l'École des Chartes.


Training


Archivist-paleographers


Entrance examinations

French students are recruited by competitive examination prepared in literary-oriented ''
classes préparatoires Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...
'' in and outside Paris. Since 1991, it has been divided into two sections: * Section A, "Classics". This includes, among other subjects, medieval history,
modern history The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is appli ...
and
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
. Studies at the School require fluency in Latin. * Section B, "Modern". This is part of the École normale supérieure's ''banque d'epreuves littéraires'' (BEL), a set of entrance examinations valid for several schools, and includes
modern history The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is appli ...
,
contemporary history Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is ...
and modern languages among its subjects. Students prepare for the entrance examination in dedicated ''
classes préparatoires Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...
'', the first year of which is known as "hypoChartes" and the second year "Chartes". Depending on the school, students preparing for examination A and those preparing for examination B may be grouped into a single cohort with different options, or they may be divided into two different cohorts. Those preparing for Section B can be grouped into '' khâgnes'' with additional options. Candidates who can provide proof of at least a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...
in theory may take an examination to be allowed to proceed directly into the second year. This examination is aimed at candidates who are already conducting research at an advanced level. There is now a limit on the number of candidates taking the entrance examination. It was reduced from 30 to 20 in three years, which was lower than the number of jobs available to graduates of the school (in archives, libraries, museums, etc.).


Status of the students

Students recruited by competitive examination can assume the status of trainee civil servants, being paid (currently approximately €1250/month net) in exchange for committing to a ten-year engagement. Those who pass the examination may choose whether or not to accept this status. Foreign students who are recruited by examination or on the basis of qualifications (according to the international selection procedure) are not remunerated while they follow the course, although they can apply for a scholarship. The course duration is three years and nine months. At the end of their studies, the students submit a
thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144 ...
, which qualifies them as archivist-paleographers. Those who have fulfilled their third-year obligations can apply for two '' écoles d'application'': the École nationale supérieure des sciences de l'information et des bibliothèques (Enssib, reserved competitive examination) and the Institut national du patrimoine (INP). Following their studies in these schools, they may join the professions of either curators of libraries or curators of heritage. Each year, a number of students sit the INP's examination in the visual branches (Museums, Historic Monuments and Inventories) or the ''agrégation'' examination (History, Classic or Modern Letters and Grammar), thus following either a research-oriented or a teaching-oriented career path.


Training and teaching

The course takes place over eight semesters, of which six are dedicated to teaching. As well as a common core of subjects, students choose options according to their scientific and professional objectives. These options can be taken externally through a university. Internships play an important role, with a five-month compulsory internship in an institution in the field of conservation (e.g. archives, libraries, museums, or heritage or archeological services) in France, and three months in a similar institution abroad. The principal subjects studied are: * Latin and French
paleography Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...
(plus other languages in seminars) * archiving, diplomacy and history of the institutions that have produced these archives (medieval, modern and contemporary) * history of civil and canon law * history of contemporary law * Roman
philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...
*
medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
* history of art (medieval, modern and contemporary) * archeology * editing of texts *
bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...
*
history of books The history of books became an acknowledged academic discipline in the 1980s. Contributors to the discipline include specialists from the fields of textual scholarship, codicology, bibliography, philology, palaeography, art history, social hi ...
* manuscripts and medieval literary texts * statistics and cartography for the study of history * modern languages and IT ECTS credits are allocated to the subjects, making it possible for students from universities or other ''grandes écoles'' to follow some of them and for the subjects to be included in the external students' Master's qualifications. This is made possible by the new LMD reform, which harmonizes French academic qualifications with other European ones. Classes are also open to independent auditors.


Master's

In 2006 the École des Chartes introduced a Master's program in Digital Technologies Applied to History and has since then trained approximately 20 students per year. In the first year, all students take the same basic modules plus three options (archiving, history of books and media, and history of art). The first year of the Master's is a continuance of the École des Chartes undergraduate training. In the second year, students follow more specialized training in the field of IT applied to webcasting. There are two possible paths, one more research-oriented and the other, which is more vocational, oriented towards the dissemination of knowledge in a heritage service. In 2011, the École des Chartes introduced a further two Master's courses. The first, in Medieval Studies, is offered in partnership with the École normale supérieure, the University of Paris III and the University of Paris IV. Its aim is to "provide training in literary research for medieval texts, with an interdisciplinary approach in the context of specialization in the Middle Ages". The second, run in partnership with the
École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay The École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay (also ENS Paris-Saclay or Normale Sup' Paris-Saclay), formerly ENS Cachan, is a grande école and a constituent member of Paris-Saclay University. It was established in 1892. It is located in Gif-sur-Yv ...
and the
Institut national de l'audiovisuel The (abbrev. INA), () is a repository of all French radio and television audiovisual archives. Additionally it provides free access to archives of countries such as Afghanistan and Cambodia. It has its headquarters in Bry-sur-Marne. Since 20 ...
, is in Audiovisual Design: Plurimedial Representations of History, Society and Science. It aims to "train designers and makers of audiovisual documentaries (for cinema, television, radio and internet) as well as creators and heads of multimedia sites operating in the written press and publishing".


Doctorate

The École nationale des Chartes awards doctorates in the subjects that it teaches. Any student holding a master's degree, whether or not it was awarded by the École des Chartes, can apply to enroll in a doctoral program at the school. The doctorate is prepared through two collaborating doctoral schools: the École pratique des hautes études (for doctorates in medieval history, history of art, archeology, Roman philology and Latin) and the Paris Sorbonne University (for doctorates in modern and contemporary history).


The Institut national du patrimoine's ''classe préparatoire intégrée''

Detailed article: Institut national du patrimoine (France). The École des Chartes provides part of the preparation for the competitive examination for heritage curators (archive specialization) for students of the INP's ''classe préparatoire intégrée''. These students are selected on the basis of social and academic criteria.


Research

Most of the professors at the École nationale des Chartes are affiliated to the Centre Jean-Mabillon, the École's research unit, whose director is currently Olivier Poncet. The aim of the centre's research program is to cover all the processes that explain and publicize the written production from the Middle Ages to the present, through various stages: * the conditions of production (axis 1: the cultures of writing from the Middle Ages to the 21st century) * the mechanisms of heritage transmission (axis 2: genesis and tradition of written heritage: author, institutions, laws, study, etc.) * the conditions of returning this historic documentation to the scientific community (axis 3: epistemology and the norms of editing texts and images in the digital age) A significant part of the school's research activity is the theses of the students, whose fields of studies have diversified over the years and now relate to all periods of history, notably contemporary.


Partnerships

Partnerships with other institutions form one of the central policies of the current administration, which collaborates closely with the
École pratique des hautes études The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...
, the Institut de recherche et d'histoire des textes and the Centre d'études superieures de civilisation médiévale of the
University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; french: Université de Poitiers) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest studen ...
to create the École d'Érudition en réseau. The École des Chartes is also part of the Institut d'histoire du livre together with the City of Lyon (its municipal library and Museum of printing works), the École normale supérieure of Lyon and the Enssib. The École des Chartes also collaborates with other higher education establishments in Paris to form the ComUE heSam University, the ComUE Sorbonne Universities and the Campus Condorcet Paris-Aubervilliers. The school also has partnerships with institutions outside France, such as the Russian State Archives, a number of Moscow libraries, the University of Alicante, and some Italian research centers. The school takes in a number of foreign students, who are often Swiss, Belgian or from francophone African countries, and is currently seeking to attract new students for shorter stays, through partnerships with universities. The school's students are also regularly invited to do internships in archives or libraries in other countries.


The library

The library was created by the order of 31 December 1846. At the time it occupied one of the two rooms reserved for the school in the hôtel de Soubise. The library moved with the school in 1897, and since then has occupied the second floor (reading room and history room), third floor (Horseshoe Room) and fourth floor (offices and store rooms in the attic). In 1920, the management of the library was taken over by the secretary of the school, who at the time was
René Poupardin René Poupardin (27 February 1874 – 23 August 1927) was a French medievalist and paleographer whose most important works were on Burgundy, Provence and the south Italian principalities. He was an alumnus of the École nationale des chartes and a ...
. Today it is managed by a library curator. It was designed as a research library. Its collections are particularly well supplied in the subjects taught at the school: medieval history, philology, history of books, bibliography, etc. The collections (around 150,000 volumes) are all available for immediate access. The catalogue is available online. Many electronic resources are also available. Due to lack of space at the Sorbonne, the library will move in 2016 to 12 rue des Petits-Champs, into much larger premises.


Dissemination of knowledge

The École nationale des Chartes disseminates scientific works in its fields of specialization, in printed and electronic format. It has published four collections of works in the printed format : * ''Mémoires et Documents'', a collection dating from 1896, consisting of monographs, most notably the theses of École des Chartes alumni * ''Études et Rencontres'', a collection begun in 1998, principally consisting of the minutes of scientific meetings * ''Matériaux pour l'Histoire'', a collection inaugurated in 1996, consisting of richly illustrated quarto volumes * ''Études et documents'' for a Gallia Pontificia, a collection jointly edited by the École nationale des Chartes and the German Historical Institute of Paris since 2009 with the aim of presenting the work carried out as part of the ''Gallia Pontificia'', a scientific enterprise that aims to identify, publish and study the papal acts concerning France dating from before 1198 The École des Chartes also publishes two periodic publications relating to the training it offers : * ''Abstracts of theses'' submitted by students to obtain their qualification of archivist-paleographer, published annually by the École des Chartes since 1849. Since 2000, they have also been available online * ''Hypotheses''. Works of the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne doctoral school of history and the École nationale des Chartes, co-edited by the École nationale des Chartes and Sorbonne publications since 2010 These works are disseminated by CID-FMSH, through the Comptoir des presses de l'université. Since 2002, the École des Chartes has also published scientific works in electronic format in its online collection of publications, the Éditions en ligne de l'École des Chartes (ELEC). This gives scientific works digital functions and brings together repertoires and databases as well as texts, in a format that is more suited than printed versions to detailed examination. This collection is completed by : * corpora of text made available online for research purposes, unedited by the École des charts * teaching materials, available on the THELEME website * a space for the presentation of the IT tools and methods developed by the École des Chartes These materials are under an open license. The school develops its scientific and teaching work through several initiatives, including the Thélème website 48, which offers materials supporting the subjects taught at the school, such as educational packs, advice, lessons, and interactive facsimiles.


École des Chartes publications

The École des Chartes also publishes numerous works, in both paper and electronic format. The ''Mémoires et documents de l'École des Chartes'' are monographs, many of them drawn from École des Chartes theses or doctoral research. The first of these was published in 1896 and they are distributed by Honoré Champion and Droz. Two more collections, the ''Études et rencontres'' (minutes of conventions and brief monographs) and ''Matériaux pour l'histoire'' (illustrated large-format albums), have been created more recently. ELEC is also responsible for the school's online publications, which include databases, editions of texts, minutes of symposia, bibliographies, and studies.


The Société de l'École des Chartes

The Société de l'École des Chartes is registered as a public-interest association, which students and alumni can join. Its current president is Marie-Françoise Limon-Bonnet, who was elected in 2018. Twice a year, the Société publishes the ''Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes'' with the support of the École. This scientific review, founded in 1839, is one of the oldest in France.


Some famous École des Chartes alumni

Detailed articles: List of alumni by year and Alphabetical list of alumni


Archives, libraries, research

*
Pierre Aubry Pierre Aubry (born April 15, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played five seasons in the National Hockey League for the Quebec Nordiques and Detroit Red Wings from 1980–81 to 1984–85. Aubry played 202 ca ...
(1874–1910), musicologist *
Jean-François Bergier Jean-François Bergier (; 5 December 1931, Lausanne, Vaud – 29 October 2009, Blonay) was a Swiss historian. He was a professor at the University of Geneva from 1963 to 1969 and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich until his ret ...
(1931–2009), modernist * Léopold Victor Delisle (1826–1910), librarian *
Jean Favier Jean Favier (2 April 1932 – 12 August 2014) was a French historian, who specialized in Medieval history. From 1975 to 1994, he was director of the French National Archives. From 1994 to 1997, he was president of the Bibliothèque nationale de ...
(1932–2014), medievalist and archivist * Arthur Giry (1848–99), professor at the École des Chartes * Louis Halphen (1880–1950), medievalist *
Antoine Le Roux de Lincy Antoine Le Roux de Lincy (Paris, 22 August 1806 – Paris, 13 May 1869) was a 19th-century French librarian, romanist and medievalist. After graduating from the École Nationale des Chartes (promotion 1831-1832), Le Roux was appointed at the bib ...
(1806-1869), medievalist * Charles-Victor Langlois (1863–1929), medievalist and archivist *
Henri-Jean Martin Henri-Jean Martin (16 January 1924 – 13 January 2007) was a leading authority on the history of the book in Europe, and an expert on the history of writing and printing. He was a leader in efforts to promote libraries in France, and the history o ...
(1924–2007), historian of books * Émile Maupas (1842–1916), librarian and zoologist *
Auguste Molinier Auguste Molinier (30 September 185119 May 1904) was a French historian. Biography Born in Toulouse, Auguste Molinier was a student at the École Nationale des Chartes, which he left in 1873, and also at the École pratique des hautes études; an ...
(1851–1904), professor at the École des Chartes * Michel Pastoureau (born 1947), medievalist *
Régine Pernoud Régine Pernoud (17 June 1909, Château-Chinon, Nièvre – 22 April 1998, Paris) was a French historian and archivist. Career In 1929, she obtained a '' baccalauréat universitaire ès lettres'' (BA) at the University of Aix-en-Provence. She ...
(1909–98), medievalist * Marcel Poëte (1866–1950), librarian, historian and urban planner * Jean Richard (born 1921), medievalist * Paul Viollet (1840–1914), professor at the École des Chartes *
Dominique de Courcelles Dominique de Courcelles (born in Paris on 10 June 1953) is a French historian of ideas. Biography Studies and Research Dominique de Courcelles studied at the École nationale des chartes. She became an Archiviste-paléographe (archivist ...
(1953-), historian of ideas * Suzanne Dobelmann (1905-1993), librarian and curator


Clergy

* Jules Doinel * George Bernard Flahiff * *
Maurice de Germiny Maurice de Germiny (born 23 November 1939) has been the bishop of Blois from 1997 to 2014. He hails from a French aristocratic family. One of his ancestors was a French ambassador to the Sublime Porte in the sixteenth century. He qualified as a ...
* Henri Brincard


Politics

* Charles Beauquier * Camille Pelletan *
Gabriel Hanotaux Albert Auguste Gabriel Hanotaux, known as Gabriel Hanotaux (19 November 1853 – 11 April 1944) was a French statesman and historian. Biography He was born at Beaurevoir in the ''département'' of Aisne. He studied history at the École des Cha ...
*
Louis Germain-Martin Louis Germain-Martin (7 November 1872, Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire – 4 October 1948, Paris) was an Independent Radical French politician. He was Minister of Post and Telecommunications in the government of André Tardieu André Pierre Gabriel ...
*
François de Clermont-Tonnerre François de Clermont-Tonnerre (1629 – 15 February 1701) was a French aristocrat and cleric. He served as the Count of Noyon, Bishop of Noyon, a pair de France and a member of the Conseil d'État. Early life Jean François de Clermont-Tonnerre ...
* Félix Grat * Lucien Romier *
Ngô Đình Nhu Ngô Đình Nhu (; 7 October 19102 November 1963; baptismal name Jacob) was a Vietnamese archivist and politician. He was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Đình Diệm. Although he held n ...


Literature

* Roger Martin du Gard * Valérie Mangin *
André Chamson André Chamson (6 June 1900 – 9 November 1983) was a French archivist, novelist and essayist. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was the father of the novelist . Biography Chamson was born at Nîmes, Gard. Having studi ...
*
Georges Bataille Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 9 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, novels ...
* René Girard *
Édith Thomas Édith Thomas (23 January 1909, Montrouge – 7 December 1970, Paris) was a French novelist, archivist, historian, and journalist. A bisexual pioneer of women's history, she reputedly inspired a character of the erotic novel ''Story of O''.Dorot ...
Some biographers, perhaps overgeneralizing, also use the term ''chartiste'' to refer to certain French historians, such as La Villemarqué, Achille Jubinal,
Pierre Lalo Pierre Lalo (6 September 1866– 9 June 1943) was a French music critic and translator. He was the son of the composer Edouard Lalo. His reviews for the Parisian paper ''Le Temps'' combined conservatism and wit; among his principal targets was the ...
and Louis Madelin, or foreign historians, such as
Alfred Métraux Alfred Métraux (5 November 1902 – 12 April 1963) was a Swiss and Argentine anthropologist, ethnologist and human rights leader. Early life Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Métraux spent much of his childhood in Argentina where his father was ...
, K. J. Conant or Aleksander Gieysztor, who audited some of the lessons at the École des Chartes, or to
Auguste Poulet-Malassis Paul Emmanuel Auguste Poulet-Malassis (16 March 1825 – 11 February 1878) was a French printer and publisher who lived and worked in Paris. He was a longstanding friend and the printer-publisher of Charles Baudelaire. Biography In his short six ...
,
José-Maria de Heredia José-Maria de Heredia (22 November 1842 – 3 October 1905) was a Cuban-born French Parnassian poet. He was the fifteenth member elected for seat 4 of the Académie française in 1894. Biography Early years Heredia was born at Fortuna ...
and
François Mauriac François Charles Mauriac (, oc, Francés Carles Mauriac; 11 October 1885 – 1 September 1970) was a French novelist, dramatist, critic, poet, and journalist, a member of the'' Académie française'' (from 1933), and laureate of the Nobel Prize ...
, who were registered as students but who never completed their studies.


List of directors of the École des Chartes


See also

*
Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques The Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (CTHS) (''Committee for Historic and Scientific Works'') is a French research institution created by the Minister of Public Education François Guizot on 18 July 1834 for the purpose of 'leading ...


Sources

* The theses submitted at the École des Chartes since 1849 are kept at the National Archives on shelf no. ABXXVIII. * The papers of the Société de l'École des Chartes are also kept at the National Archives on shelf no. 11AS.nationales
/ref>


References


External links

*
Site of the École des Chartes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecole Nationale Des Chartes Schools in Paris Archival science Grands établissements Information schools École Nationale des Chartes Educational institutions established in 1821 1821 establishments in France