The Siècle history podcast
@thesiecle.com
A history podcast by @dhmontgomery.com covering France's overlooked century between Napoleon and World War I. Annotated transcripts at thesiecle.com!
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The Siècle history podcast
@thesiecle.com
· Nov 14
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thesiecle.com
Hello!
The Siècle is a narrative history podcast by @dhmontgomery.com, covering French history 1814-1914, mostly in order.
I also post full transcripts of every episode on the podcast website, including footnotes, pictures & custom maps.
Get started with the show at the link below!
The Siècle is a narrative history podcast by @dhmontgomery.com, covering French history 1814-1914, mostly in order.
I also post full transcripts of every episode on the podcast website, including footnotes, pictures & custom maps.
Get started with the show at the link below!
I'm one of the guest voices here recording a story from 15th Century Burgundy, about a soldier who insisted that the straps for attaching armor on a prisoner's shirt constituted "weapons," and was therefore forced by an angry noble to fight a duel with only buckle-straps for weapons.
If you didn't get enough about illicit affairs in there, check out Supplemental 13: Stories from the Burgundian Court where we'll be reading some of the tales from the Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles. granddukesofthewest.com/2026/02/02/s...
Supplemental 13: Stories from the Burgundian Court
Story the First – The Reverse of the MedalStory the Fifth – The Duel with the Buckle StrapStory the Sixth – The Drunkard in ParadiseStory the Fifteenth – The Clever NunStory…
granddukesofthewest.com
February 2, 2026 at 6:43 PM
I'm one of the guest voices here recording a story from 15th Century Burgundy, about a soldier who insisted that the straps for attaching armor on a prisoner's shirt constituted "weapons," and was therefore forced by an angry noble to fight a duel with only buckle-straps for weapons.
ICYMI: new episode!
NEW EPISODE: The July Revolution is done, but Paris isn't sure if it's done with revolution. Protests and riots, treason trials and lynch mobs, suspicious deaths and epic betrayals — it's all here in Episode 49: The Trial.
thesiecle.com/episode49/
thesiecle.com/episode49/
January 27, 2026 at 9:19 PM
ICYMI: new episode!
In 1830, France's king and his ministers suspended the constitution. But the people of Paris resisted and overthrew the regime.
Now crowds are chanting "Death to the ministers." The ex-ministers are on trial — but so is France's new regime.
NEW EPISODE: thesiecle.com/episode49/
Now crowds are chanting "Death to the ministers." The ex-ministers are on trial — but so is France's new regime.
NEW EPISODE: thesiecle.com/episode49/
January 26, 2026 at 9:39 PM
In 1830, France's king and his ministers suspended the constitution. But the people of Paris resisted and overthrew the regime.
Now crowds are chanting "Death to the ministers." The ex-ministers are on trial — but so is France's new regime.
NEW EPISODE: thesiecle.com/episode49/
Now crowds are chanting "Death to the ministers." The ex-ministers are on trial — but so is France's new regime.
NEW EPISODE: thesiecle.com/episode49/
Someone I know once jokingly described the Marquis de Lafayette as "a golden retriever in human form" and he doesn't exactly do a great job disproving the allegations here.
NEW EPISODE: The July Revolution is done, but Paris isn't sure if it's done with revolution. Protests and riots, treason trials and lynch mobs, suspicious deaths and epic betrayals — it's all here in Episode 49: The Trial.
thesiecle.com/episode49/
thesiecle.com/episode49/
January 26, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Someone I know once jokingly described the Marquis de Lafayette as "a golden retriever in human form" and he doesn't exactly do a great job disproving the allegations here.
NEW EPISODE: The July Revolution is done, but Paris isn't sure if it's done with revolution. Protests and riots, treason trials and lynch mobs, suspicious deaths and epic betrayals — it's all here in Episode 49: The Trial.
thesiecle.com/episode49/
thesiecle.com/episode49/
January 26, 2026 at 3:16 PM
NEW EPISODE: The July Revolution is done, but Paris isn't sure if it's done with revolution. Protests and riots, treason trials and lynch mobs, suspicious deaths and epic betrayals — it's all here in Episode 49: The Trial.
thesiecle.com/episode49/
thesiecle.com/episode49/
Reposted by The Siècle history podcast
Hello! Are we listening to the latest gastro-adventure?
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
#πodcast #food #greekfood #greekcheese #greekrecipes
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
#πodcast #food #greekfood #greekcheese #greekrecipes
Graviera stuffed aubergine leaves in tomato sauce
Podcast Episode · The Delicious Legacy · 25/01/2026 · Bonus · 15m
podcasts.apple.com
January 26, 2026 at 9:41 AM
Hello! Are we listening to the latest gastro-adventure?
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
#πodcast #food #greekfood #greekcheese #greekrecipes
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
#πodcast #food #greekfood #greekcheese #greekrecipes
Some say later!
January 26, 2026 at 6:18 AM
Some say later!
Merry Sièclemas!
January 26, 2026 at 5:54 AM
Merry Sièclemas!
A little oiseau just told me to listen for something new tomorrow... 😉
January 25, 2026 at 9:24 PM
A little oiseau just told me to listen for something new tomorrow... 😉
I get a lot of spam on my podcast email, usually people offering to SEO my YouTube videos or whatever.
But the ~weirdest~ spam is this Italian pergola manufacturer, whose mailing list I have been unable to get off of for YEARS.
But the ~weirdest~ spam is this Italian pergola manufacturer, whose mailing list I have been unable to get off of for YEARS.
January 23, 2026 at 3:36 PM
I get a lot of spam on my podcast email, usually people offering to SEO my YouTube videos or whatever.
But the ~weirdest~ spam is this Italian pergola manufacturer, whose mailing list I have been unable to get off of for YEARS.
But the ~weirdest~ spam is this Italian pergola manufacturer, whose mailing list I have been unable to get off of for YEARS.
My favorite example of this *so far* was Charles Fabvier in Episode 30 (and guess who makes a cameo again in the upcoming Episode 49??): thesiecle.com/episode30/
January 20, 2026 at 2:19 AM
My favorite example of this *so far* was Charles Fabvier in Episode 30 (and guess who makes a cameo again in the upcoming Episode 49??): thesiecle.com/episode30/
There are few types of paragraphs I enjoy writing more than "Here's a new person, but actually, he's been in the background for half a dozen episodes and I'm only properly introducing him now."
January 20, 2026 at 2:15 AM
There are few types of paragraphs I enjoy writing more than "Here's a new person, but actually, he's been in the background for half a dozen episodes and I'm only properly introducing him now."
Attested as early as 1825, so not impossible!
January 19, 2026 at 6:35 AM
Attested as early as 1825, so not impossible!
34/ This thread is adapted most directly from Episode 43 of The Siècle, "The Politicians," but my entire series on the July Revolution begins with Episode 39 (and you'll get a lot of extra backstory by starting with Episode 1, as I recommend).
Episode 43: The Politicians
While men fight and die on the streets of Paris, France's feckless politicians try to muster the will to take decisive action of their own to address a revol...
thesiecle.com
January 17, 2026 at 5:58 AM
34/ This thread is adapted most directly from Episode 43 of The Siècle, "The Politicians," but my entire series on the July Revolution begins with Episode 39 (and you'll get a lot of extra backstory by starting with Episode 1, as I recommend).
33/ I'll be exploring the emerging July Monarchy in coming episodes of The Siècle — one coming *very soon*. But the politics of the July Revolution are fascinating, in how opposition leaders almost dithered away their moment, but developed a backbone before events had completely passed them by.
January 17, 2026 at 5:57 AM
33/ I'll be exploring the emerging July Monarchy in coming episodes of The Siècle — one coming *very soon*. But the politics of the July Revolution are fascinating, in how opposition leaders almost dithered away their moment, but developed a backbone before events had completely passed them by.
32/ But I don't think we should read backwards into July 1830 the events of the next subsequent months and years, which were not predetermined. The accession of Louis-Philippe was a moment of potentiality, not finality; the key decisions for the fate of the July Monarchy remained in the future.
January 17, 2026 at 5:53 AM
32/ But I don't think we should read backwards into July 1830 the events of the next subsequent months and years, which were not predetermined. The accession of Louis-Philippe was a moment of potentiality, not finality; the key decisions for the fate of the July Monarchy remained in the future.
31/ The popular image of the July Revolution is dominated by what came next — the quick retreat of the July Monarchy into conservatism and "resistance," culminating eventually in its own overthrow in 1848 after refusals to expand the franchise.
January 17, 2026 at 5:49 AM
31/ The popular image of the July Revolution is dominated by what came next — the quick retreat of the July Monarchy into conservatism and "resistance," culminating eventually in its own overthrow in 1848 after refusals to expand the franchise.
30/ What always strikes me about the July Revolution is how *fast* it all was. This wasn't like the American Revolution, where delegates took more than a year after Lexington and Concord to finally build majority support for declaring independence. The July Revolution was over in less than a week.
January 17, 2026 at 5:47 AM
30/ What always strikes me about the July Revolution is how *fast* it all was. This wasn't like the American Revolution, where delegates took more than a year after Lexington and Concord to finally build majority support for declaring independence. The July Revolution was over in less than a week.
29/ This brief moment of decisive unity didn't last long. In the coming months the new regime — the July Monarchy — would split into opposing camps, the "Party of Movement" who wanted to continue reforms & the "Party of Resistance" who wanted to freeze things in a new order. But that's another tale.
January 17, 2026 at 5:44 AM
29/ This brief moment of decisive unity didn't last long. In the coming months the new regime — the July Monarchy — would split into opposing camps, the "Party of Movement" who wanted to continue reforms & the "Party of Resistance" who wanted to freeze things in a new order. But that's another tale.
28/ But while France's opposition politicians were slow to act, they were not, in the end, TOO slow. Before events on the ground completely passed them by, the politicians asserted themselves and arranged for Charles to be replaced by his more liberal cousin, Louis-Philippe, Duc d'Orléans.
January 17, 2026 at 5:42 AM
28/ But while France's opposition politicians were slow to act, they were not, in the end, TOO slow. Before events on the ground completely passed them by, the politicians asserted themselves and arranged for Charles to be replaced by his more liberal cousin, Louis-Philippe, Duc d'Orléans.
27/ The politicians had not been leaders in what was becoming the July Revolution. The journalists of Paris had kicked things off by publicly defying the Four Ordinances, and the people then rose up to violently repel Charles's attempts to enforce his coup. All while the politicians dithered.
January 17, 2026 at 5:39 AM
27/ The politicians had not been leaders in what was becoming the July Revolution. The journalists of Paris had kicked things off by publicly defying the Four Ordinances, and the people then rose up to violently repel Charles's attempts to enforce his coup. All while the politicians dithered.
26/ And so, as the night ended with no response to the opposition leaders' demands, many of them radicalized. Led by Jacques Laffitte, the banker-politician who had once declared, "Given my wealth, I am clearly interested in order," they began pursuing a change of dynasty.
January 17, 2026 at 5:35 AM
26/ And so, as the night ended with no response to the opposition leaders' demands, many of them radicalized. Led by Jacques Laffitte, the banker-politician who had once declared, "Given my wealth, I am clearly interested in order," they began pursuing a change of dynasty.
25/ At this moment Charles could have probably saved his throne if he'd agreed. It would have been humiliating, yes. But these squishy moderates wanted to change the government, not the regime. Some of them tried much harder to save Charles's throne than *he* did. But Charles refused to bend.
January 17, 2026 at 5:30 AM
25/ At this moment Charles could have probably saved his throne if he'd agreed. It would have been humiliating, yes. But these squishy moderates wanted to change the government, not the regime. Some of them tried much harder to save Charles's throne than *he* did. But Charles refused to bend.
24/ This wasn't a huge ask. Firing Polignac was what they had wanted all along, and the Four Ordinances were clearly unacceptable. They weren't asking for any other political concessions, or for Charles to abdicate. But they refused to compromise on these basic demands.
January 17, 2026 at 5:29 AM
24/ This wasn't a huge ask. Firing Polignac was what they had wanted all along, and the Four Ordinances were clearly unacceptable. They weren't asking for any other political concessions, or for Charles to abdicate. But they refused to compromise on these basic demands.