In partnership with the CESR and the University of Tours, the CMBV is hosting a new project funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie research grant, devoted to the study of real and fictitious expenditure on performances in France between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

How were court and town performances financed in the modern era? This innovative, interdisciplinary research project aims to shed light on a little-known aspect of the history of theatre and music: the economic reality of the production of public and private ceremonial in France between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Although scholars have studied many aspects of these celebrations, to date there has been no systematic research into the expenditure of these ephemeral cultural activities, which could be the object of both praise and criticism. The traditional view of these events as the result of astronomical expenditure is often based on sources that have passed on this information, such as printed descriptions, reports of entries, letters, etc. But the information conveyed by these sources is not always accurate. But the information conveyed by these documents is often dictated by their function (as propaganda objects) or by their origin (hearsay or word of mouth). On the other hand, the accounting documents relating to these events often show a different reality, where the slightest expenditure is meticulously controlled and subject to extremely prudent financial management. The gap between ‘real’ and ‘fictitious’ expenditure is comparable to that between reality and theatrical illusion.

Projet H2020-MSCA-IF-2020 - Bourses individuelles Marie Skłodowska-Curie (2021-2023)
Superviseur : Philippe Canguilhem (CESR)