Confraternities and religious culture(s) in Enlightenment Paris

The discovery that large numbers of lay religious confraternities existed in eighteenth-century Paris and played an active role in the culture of the city questions existing views of the French capital as a secular modern city at that time. It raises new questions about the impact of the Enlightenment on daily life and about the religious divisions evident in the Revolution. This project will explore the proliferation and eventual decline of religious confraternities in Paris, offering new insights into the history of Paris, the religious history of eighteenth-century Europe and the place of religion in the French revolution.